Home-price gains end ‘09 near 4-year high

January 19th, 2010, 9:00 am
by Jon Lansner

Orange County home pricing, as measured by DataQuick’s monthly median selling price, finished 2009 at $435,000 — the highest in 15 months and up 11.8% from a year ago, fastest appreciation since February 2006.

For Dec. 2009 Slice Price Yr. ago Sales Yr. ago
Houses $500,000 +11.2% 1,833 +17.6%
Condos $290,000 +21.5% 881 +7.4%
New $617,500 -17.4% 171 +23.9%
All O.C. $435,000 +11.8% 2,885 +9.6%

Noteworth of December’s Orange County real estate actvity …

•DataQuick’s median first topped $435,000 in December 2003.
•This most recent median is 18% above the cyclical low hit in January 2009 at $370,000 — a current bottom that was -43% below June 2007’s peak of $645,000.
•That $435,000 median is still 33% below June 2007’s peak.
•Single-family homes resell for 32% less than their peak pricing (June ‘07) while condos sell 38% below their peak in March 2006. Builder prices for new homes are 29% below their February ‘05 top.
•In this most recent period, O.C. shoppers bought 2,885 residences — that is up 9.6% vs. year-ago buying activity. (From 1997-2006, monthly sales averaged 4,304 per month.)
•December was the 17th of the last 18 months with sales gains vs. the year-ago period. That follows 33 consecutive months where sales failed to beat the previous year’s pace.

http://lansner.freedomblogging.com/2010 ... igh/52591/