Southern California home prices hold as sales continue to slow

Southern California home prices remained in a holding pattern last month while sales continued to decline, albeit at a slower pace, data released today showed.

The median price of all types of homes sold in October was $484,000, which was the same as in September, and 2.3% higher than a year ago, La Jolla-based research firm DataQuick Information Systems reported.

Meanwhile, sales in the six-county region fell 22.4% to 22,117, DataQuick said. It was the worst showing for an October in a decade, but the rate of decline was the slowest since July.

For much of this year, potential buyers have been hanging back, waiting to see if prices will decline. The result has been fewer sales and an upsurge in supply as more homes sit unsold for longer periods and new listings continue to come on the market.

What’s more, homeowners who would like to move up or downsize are reluctant to put their homes up for sale, fearing they may not get the price they want.

“Buyers are taking their time, trying to wait out the uncertainty in a market that is rebalancing itself,� said DataQuick President Marshall Prentice.

One region economists have been watching closely is San Diego County, where California’s housing boom was launched six years ago and where it first started to fade. But in October, San Diego’s home prices recovered some ground, rising nearly 2% to $485,000, compared to the month before. It was the first increase since March. Nonetheless, when compared to a year ago, the rate of appreciation in San Diego declined 5.5%, DataQuick said.

Southern California home-price gains have been decelerating for the last year. Year-over-year increases have been in the single digits for seven months and are expected to turn negative by the end of this year or early next year, DataQuick analysts said.

Indeed, the rate of the slowdown is starting to spread beyond San Diego. In Ventura County, home prices dipped 2.3% to $582,000. Sales fell 19.6% to 940.

In Orange County, the region’s priciest market, the median price rose 3.1% to $625,000, which was the same median a month ago. Sales declined 24.9% to 2,715.

The Inland Empire counties of Riverside and San Bernardino, where prices were still rising by double-digits as recently as this spring, also showed marked slowing. In October, the median in Riverside rose 4.9% to $410,000, but was off its peak of $423,000 reached in September. Sales fell 24.2%.

San Bernardino’s median price edged up 2.3% to $362,000 year over year, but was flat with the median price set last December. Sales declined 21.3%.

On Monday, DataQuick reported that Los Angeles County’s median price rose 4.5% to $514,000 as sales dropped 21.8%.

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