California home sales were up slightly last month, according to just-released numbers from the California Association of Realtors. Existing home sales totaled 426,970 last month, up 0.5 percent from February and down 4.4 percent from March 2021.
The year-over-year sales decrease was the ninth straight decline and the smallest in eight months. Year-to-date statewide home sales were down 7 percent last month.
According to CAR, March’s statewide median home price hit a new record, landing at $849,080. March marks a 10.1 percent from February and an 11.9 percent increase from March 2021.
The month-to-month percent change in median price was the highest pace since March 2013, and the 10.1 percent increase from February was the first time in nine years that the monthly price increase was in the double-digits.
“With homes still selling at a rapid clip and more homes selling above asking price than last summer when prices were at record highs, California’s housing market continues to perform remarkably well as buyers enter the market to get ahead of rising mortgage interest rates,” said CAR President Otto Catrina. “An increase in active listings for the first time since prior to the pandemic should give consumers more options and alleviate some of the upward pressure on home prices, which bodes well for prospective buyers.”
At the regional level, home sales in all major California regions, except the Central Valley, recorded sales decreases on a year-over-year basis. The Far North had the second largest sales decline at 7.7 percent, followed by Southern California ( down 7.5 percent) and the San Francisco Bay Area ( down 2.7 percent). Sales in the Central Valley increased for the second straight month with a year-over-year increase of 2.8 percent.
Stay tuned to CaliforniaListings.com and CaliforniaListings.com/Norcal for our regional sales reports for SoCal and NorCal, posting on April 20.