It’s hard to believe California is suffering from the same inventory woes that the rest of the country is dealing with when you look at the new numbers out from the California Association of Realtors. According to CAR, existing-home sales in the state were up 9.8 percent in May, hitting the highest level California has seen in eight months.
May’s sales were still down 23.6 percent from a year ago, when a revised 378,640 homes were sold on an annualized basis.
“The bounceback in May’s home sales and price shows the resilience of California’s housing market and is a testament to the value that consumers place on homeownership,” said CAR President Jennifer Branchini. “The housing market is stabilizing and even showing signs of improvement as competition is on the rise again; nearly half of homes are selling above asking price, fewer sellers are reducing listing prices, and homes for sale are going into pending status in just two weeks compared to more than 30 days early this year.”
Sales declines moderated at the regional level, with sales in all major regions falling less than 24 percent from the same month last year. Be sure and check out our SoCal and NorCal regional coverage, out Thursday.
California’s median home price exceeded $800,000 in May for the second straight month, increasing 3 percent to $836,110. The statewide median price continued to rise and reached the highest level in nine months.