Despite a big drop in housing sales, house prices across the State of California actually rose again in December. 2021 was a strong year. Despite slower sales in December, it was the best year for existing single-family home sales in California in over a decade.
The California statewide median house price rose 1.8% to $796,570 in November. That was also a year-over-year gain of 11.0 percent from December 2020. Condo prices however did decline 1.2% from November to a new median of $612,750. CAR reports that home price growth is still increasing.
Housing inventory fell to a new record low of 1.2 months. Pending sales have been slumping badly for 4 months and the decline steepens. Listing prices have declined steeply in the past two months yet are starting to level off.
CAR reports a record low number of homes viewed per homebuyer now at 8, and 3 of them are online viewings. Two years ago homebuyers viewed 12 homes on average.
The Los Angeles Metro Area saw a slight month-to-month price reduction for single-family houses, however year over year, the 17.8% price rise shows demand is strong in LA.
The inland empire and central valley saw strong year-over-year price increases of 20% and 13.9% respectively. The Inland Empire saw the highest month-to-month price increase (2.1%).
The San Francisco Bay Area saw a dramatically higher house price decline of 7.7%, yet even there, year-over-year price increases reached 13.4%.
The NAPA region is seeing a high price from November (24.7). Santa Clara’s prices only roe 2.8% in December yet are up a surprising 26.5% year over year.
All Bay Area counties have experienced high price growth year over year in the housing market.
Orange and San Bernardino Counties saw price growth in December, and their year-over-year price gains are high (24.5% and 21.5% respectively).
Los Angeles County saw active listings drop 43.4% year over year, to only 1104 units available. LA homes prices are up 22.4% vs last year, and home sales have suffered a 9.6% drop.
In San Diego County, homes sales in December fell 11.2% year over year while prices rose 14.6%. Active listings in the SD dropped 29% YoY and the median days on market is down to 8 days.
In San Francisco County, home sales via the MLS have dropped 25.6% to only 298 units, while house prices rose 6.9% YoY. Active listings have plunged 41.65% to just 108 houses for sale. Median days on market reached 14 days. Sales to listing price is 112.3%.
In SAC County, existing home sales fell 12.3% to 1319 units while active listings fell 2.4% to 646 units for sale. The existing median sold price rose 16.4% to $515,000.
Source: managecasa.com ~ By Gord Collins ~ Image: December housing market stats California. Screenshot Courtesy of CAR.org.