NorCal median home price plummets 41 percent
Real estate data show San Francisco Bay area median home prices plunged 41 percent in October
Alex Veiga, AP Real Estate Writer
Thursday November 20, 2008, 2:58 pm EST
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Despite an increasingly uncertain economy, thousands of homebuyers around San Francisco Bay kept snatching up foreclosed homes last month, dragging down the median home price by 41 percent from a year ago, a real estate tracking firm said Thursday.
The median home price in the nine-county region plunged to $375,000 in October, compared with $631,000 in the year-ago period, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick.
Last month's median price was down 6.3 percent from September and nearly 44 percent from the peak median of $665,000 in the summer of 2007.
"The dramatic, near free-fall in the Bay Area's median sale price in recent months stems mainly from the shift toward more sales occurring in lower-cost inland markets," John Walsh, MDA DataQuick's president, said in a statement. "At the same time, the role of foreclosures continued to grow across the region, adding more downward pressure to the median."
Despite efforts by government, lenders and others to help strapped homeowners with mortgage payments, foreclosures have continued to rise in California, particularly in inland counties with metro areas such as Stockton, Merced, Riverside, San Bernardino and Modesto.
The U.S. financial crisis, rising unemployment and fears over the prospects of a deepening U.S. recession apparently is not dissuading buyers with bargain home prices in their sights, although the latest figures represent homes that closed escrow in October on sales that were initiated probably as far back as August.
Home sales in the San Francisco Bay area climbed nearly 39 percent last month from a year ago to 7,613 and nearly 5 percent from September.
October's sales were the highest for any month since June 2007, when 7,964 homes were sold.
Once more, foreclosure resales accounted for a major slice of those sales -- nearly 45 percent of the preowned homes sold last month. Most of those distressed sales took place in Contra Costa, Napa and Solano counties.
In pricier San Francisco County, where the median price slipped 12.1 percent to $699,000 from a year ago, sales plunged 21 percent.
Contra Costa County saw the steepest drop in price, with the median tumbling more than 46 percent to $285,000 from a year ago. Sales in the county soared by nearly 87 percent.
A six-county region of Southern California also saw a sharp jump in home sales and a decline in median price last month.
Sales in the region rose by 67 percent, while the median home price fell 33 percent to $300,000.
Foreclosure resales amounted to 51 percent of all transactions in the region.
Real estate data show San Francisco Bay area median home prices plunged 41 percent in October
Alex Veiga, AP Real Estate Writer
Thursday November 20, 2008, 2:58 pm EST
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Despite an increasingly uncertain economy, thousands of homebuyers around San Francisco Bay kept snatching up foreclosed homes last month, dragging down the median home price by 41 percent from a year ago, a real estate tracking firm said Thursday.
The median home price in the nine-county region plunged to $375,000 in October, compared with $631,000 in the year-ago period, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick.
Last month's median price was down 6.3 percent from September and nearly 44 percent from the peak median of $665,000 in the summer of 2007.
"The dramatic, near free-fall in the Bay Area's median sale price in recent months stems mainly from the shift toward more sales occurring in lower-cost inland markets," John Walsh, MDA DataQuick's president, said in a statement. "At the same time, the role of foreclosures continued to grow across the region, adding more downward pressure to the median."
Despite efforts by government, lenders and others to help strapped homeowners with mortgage payments, foreclosures have continued to rise in California, particularly in inland counties with metro areas such as Stockton, Merced, Riverside, San Bernardino and Modesto.
The U.S. financial crisis, rising unemployment and fears over the prospects of a deepening U.S. recession apparently is not dissuading buyers with bargain home prices in their sights, although the latest figures represent homes that closed escrow in October on sales that were initiated probably as far back as August.
Home sales in the San Francisco Bay area climbed nearly 39 percent last month from a year ago to 7,613 and nearly 5 percent from September.
October's sales were the highest for any month since June 2007, when 7,964 homes were sold.
Once more, foreclosure resales accounted for a major slice of those sales -- nearly 45 percent of the preowned homes sold last month. Most of those distressed sales took place in Contra Costa, Napa and Solano counties.
In pricier San Francisco County, where the median price slipped 12.1 percent to $699,000 from a year ago, sales plunged 21 percent.
Contra Costa County saw the steepest drop in price, with the median tumbling more than 46 percent to $285,000 from a year ago. Sales in the county soared by nearly 87 percent.
A six-county region of Southern California also saw a sharp jump in home sales and a decline in median price last month.
Sales in the region rose by 67 percent, while the median home price fell 33 percent to $300,000.
Foreclosure resales amounted to 51 percent of all transactions in the region.
