California appears to have been the bright spot in an otherwise slow December when it comes to real estate across the U.S.
While the Golden State has a whole saw monthly sales increase by 1.1 percent, according to the California Association of Realtors, the annual numbers are a bit harder to swallow. Regionally speaking, the Central Coast had a softer December than a number of other regions across California. However, it appears a few big-ticket sales may have helped to soften the blow.
Santa Barbara, in particular, managed to boost its median sale price by 31.9 percent month-over-month to $1,055,000 in December. Sales, however, slid 15.8 percent compared to November 2022 and were down some 40.9 percent annually.
Existing-home sales in San Luis Obispo fell 6.3 percent month-over-month, while the median sale price dipped 6.3 percent to $830,000. In Monterey, home sales were down 9 percent as the median sale price slid 5.4 percent.
Finally, in Santa Cruz, existing-home sales were down just 3.5 percent compared to the month prior. The median sale price in the county fell 5.6 percent to $1,175,000.