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Housing Market Report

By Intero Real Estate | December 18th, 2008

New report focuses on turbulent year in California housing market

The housing market in California experienced a turbulent year in 2008, with improved home sales, lower home prices, and the financial market meltdown. That’s according to a report by the California Association of Realtors®, the “State of the California Housing Market 2008-2009” that was released this week.

Here are some of the report’s findings:

  • Almost one of five sellers sold their property because their property was in foreclosure, short sales, or default.
  • The number of sellers who sold their home with a loss hit a record-setting 22.2 percent.
  • The median price of existing homes, including single-family homes, condos and town homes, dropped by nearly 18 percent to $440,000 in 2008. A year earlier, the median price was $535,000.

“The market will continue to experience large year-to-year decreases in the coming months before leveling out in 2009. The statewide median price is expected to decline 31.7 percent to $381,000 for 2008, the first decline since 1996. The statewide median price will further decline by 6 percent in 2009 to $358,000,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young.

C.A.R. says sales generally improved over last year, after two years of declines exceeding 20 percent. In 2008, annual sales are expected to increase 12 percent, with a further 12.5 percent annual increase projected for 2009.

C.A.R. President James Liptak says that the share of first-time buyers increased from 30.4 percent in 2007 to 35.9 percent in 2008. That’s well below the peak levels in the 1990s, when half of the market consisted of first-timers, Liptak says.

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Categories: California Association of REALTORS®, Intero Real Estate Services, James Liptak, Leslie Appleton-Young
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