In July, the Southern California real estate market has demonstrated notable stability, holding steady at historic high prices. According to a report from the Pasadena Star-News, home sales in the area reached their second-highest volume in nearly two years, even though homes are taking longer to sell. The combination of lower mortgage rates and an uptick in available inventory has injected some momentum into the housing market.
CoraLogic, a real estate data firm, revealed on July 4th that the median home price in Southern California hit $775,000, matching the historic highs noted in April and June. Furthermore, home sales experienced a significant boost, climbing nearly 14% in July with a total of 17,462 transactions—second only to the volumes recorded in June and May of this year.
Looking ahead, 2024 is still anticipated to rank as the third slowest year for home sales in history. Up until July, 105,000 homes had been sold, a figure that only marginally surpasses the sales numbers from the same period in 2008 and 2023. Notably, the total sales volume for July stands as the fourth lowest since the late 1980s.
A decline in mortgage rates has positively impacted the market, with rates dropping nearly one percentage point over the past four months, which has enhanced buying power for many homebuyers. For example, a buyer looking to purchase a median-priced home at $775,000 with a mortgage rate of 7.2% back in May can now afford a home priced at $841,000 with the current rate of 6.4%, all while keeping the same monthly payment.
Additionally, the inventory of homes for sale has been gradually increasing. Data from the online real estate platform Redfin indicates that by July, there were nearly 53,000 homes available across six counties in Southern California, representing a 25% increase compared to July 2023. However, this rise in inventory has contributed to longer selling times; in July, the average time homes spent on the market was 34 days, compared to just 29 days in the previous year.
Breaking down the changes in sales and median home prices by county reveals some interesting trends: In Los Angeles County, the median price rose by 7.9% to $890,000, with sales climbing 15.7% to 5,654 transactions. Orange County experienced a 10.3% hike in median prices to $1.18 million, alongside an 11.5% increase in sales to 2,450 transactions. Riverside County saw a 6.4% price increase to $585,000, with sales rising by 16.7% to 3,381. San Bernardino County’s median price also went up by 6.4% to $500,000, while sales increased by 9.3% to 2,503. In San Diego County, the median price rose 4.1% to $885,000, with sales up by 10.4% to 2,839 transactions. Lastly, Ventura County’s median price increased by 3.2% to $842,000, with sales seeing an impressive 18.9% growth to 635 transactions.
