SALES ARE DOWN, BUT PRICES UP REPORT FINDS MORE HOME MARKETS ON THE DECLINE.Byline: GREGORY J. WILCOX Staff Writer Home sales fell an annual 22.2 percent across California in December as more markets began to experience price declines, a trade association reported Thursday. Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, markets saw a similar sales pattern but most continued to see price increases, albeit moderate ones, said the Los Angeles-based California Association of Realtors. Statewide, the median price - the point at which half the homes cost more and half less - increased 1.4 percent, to $555,290. But the same price fell on a year-over-year basis in 14 of 20 major markets the association tracks. In a separate report covering more localized statistics generated by the association and DataQuick Information Systems, 47.2 percent, or 168 out of 356 cities and communities, showed an increase in their respective median home prices from a year ago. The entire list is available on line at http://www.car.org/index.php?id=MzY4NzU=. The sales decline means that if the market matched November's pace all year, 450,930 houses would change owners Verb 1. change owners - be transferred to another owner; "This restaurant changed hands twice last year" change hands move, displace - cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense; "Move those boxes into , the fewest since 1998. ``We've seen something of a stabilization of sales around the 450,000 mark. They've sort of leveled out over the past five months,'' said Robert Kleinhenz, the association's deputy chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the . Over the past five months, the annual sales rate ranged between 445,000 and 455,000 units, he said. The report showed that: In Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County, sales fell an annual 21.6 percent and slipped 2.4 percent from October. The median price rose an annual 2.7 percent, to $590,790. In Ventura County, the median price fell 2 percent, to $633,760. Sales fell 19.3 percent annually and rose 0.9 percent monthly. In the Inland Empire In·land Empire A region of the northwest United States between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains, comprising eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, northern Idaho, and western Montana. Farming, lumbering, and mining are important to the area. (Riverside and San Bernardino counties), the median price increased 4 percent, to $401,460, and sales plunged 45.9 percent annually and increased 9.9 percent monthly. The association's Unsold Inventory Index for single-family homes in November 2006 was 7.4 months, compared with 3.6 months for the same period a year ago. This indicates the number of months needed to deplete de·plete v. 1. To use up something, such as a nutrient. 2. To empty something out, as the body of electrolytes. the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate. Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 6.24 percent during November 2006, down from 6.33 percent in November 2005, according to Freddie Mac Freddie Mac: see Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. . Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 5.51 percent in November, up from 5.14 percent a year ago. The median number of days on the market increased to 70 in November versus 39 a year ago. ``We're sort of settling into what you would have to call suspended animation sus·pend·ed animation n. A temporary interruption of the vital functions resembling death. . It's the same old story - sales down significantly, home prices creeping up,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. ``But mortgage rates are still darn attractive.'' |
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