California’s housing market continued its momentum in October, posting strong year-over-year sales and price gains in nearly every county of the state, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) released its most recent housing data.
Also, C.A.R. Chief Economist expected to see solid year-over-year price gains through the first quarter of next year, as sales of higher-priced homes grow
Here are the highlights:
- Most counties in the Northern California region, for example, posted double-digit year-over-year sales gains in October
- Sales in October were up 12.5 percent from a revised 484,050 in September and up 10.2 percent from a revised 493,790 in October 2011.
- October’s price was up 23 percent from October 2011, marking the eighth consecutive month of annual price increases and the fourth consecutive month of double-digit annual gains. The year-to-year increase was the largest since May 2010.
- California’s housing inventory tightened in October, with the Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes dropping to 3.1 months, down from 3.7 months in September and a revised 5.5 months in October 2011. The index indicates the number of months needed to sell the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate. A six- to seven-month supply is considered normal.
- Homes continued to sell at a faster pace in October, with the median number of days it took to sell a single-family home falling to 38 days in October 2012 from 39.3 days in September and down from a revised 55.1 days for the same period a year ago.
Read complete report here.
