Home Sales in State Rise 5.8% in February

California home sales continued their steady climb in February, with median prices statewide also rising in comparison to last year, a real estate trade group said Thursday.

The number of existing single-family detached homes that sold in California rose to an annualized rate of 646,710 last month, according to the California Assn. of Realtors, a 5.8% increase over the same month last year.

The seasonally adjusted annualized rate measures how many homes would sell all year if homes kept selling at the February rate.

“Affordability issues are on the horizon, but they don’t seem to be constraining sales too much yet,” said Leslie Appleton-Young, CAR’s vice president and chief economist, adding that economic data suggest the housing market will continue to be strong.

Appleton-Young pointed to double-digit increases in Los Angeles and Orange counties’ median home prices over last February as evidence that affordability may soon be a problem here, as it already is in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Last month’s sales activity was the highest of any February since the group began keeping records in the late 1970s, CAR officials said.

The state’s home prices also rose. For single-family detached houses, the February median was $199,161, an increase of 8.3% over February 1998.

The median home price in Los Angeles County in February was $197,060, 12.3% higher than in February 1998, although 3.9% fewer homes sold than in the same period last year.

Orange County’s median price last month was $271,980, an increase of 12.7% over the same month last year. Sales activity in the county rose 3.4% year-over-year.

Sales activity in Riverside and San Bernardino counties was 15.3% higher than in February 1998, but the median price dipped by 2.1% to a median of $118,240. Sales in Ventura County were 8.5% slower, but the median price in February rose to $243,620, up 6.2%

Sales of condominiums and newly built homes are not included in the figures.

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Housing Market Still Warm

California home sales continued their steady climb in February. Median prices also rose compared with last year’s.

*

Median Price

in thousands of dollars

February: $199,161

*

Sales Activity

Year-to-year change, in percent

February: +5.8%

Source: California Assn. of Realtors