L.A. County Home Sales Slip; Median Price Keeps Rising

The pace of home sales in October fell in Los Angeles County--the first such decline in two years--and slowed down in the rest of Southern California as the region’s once-feverish real estate market showed more signs of cooling.

The number of all homes--including condominiums--sold in the county in October fell 2.5% from the same month last year to 8,916 properties, according to figures released Friday by Acxiom/DataQuick Information Systems. It was the first year-over-year sales decline since September 1996 and comes after sales in some months had exceeded last year’s count by more than 20%.

The Los Angeles County median sales price, however, continued to increase in October, rising 7.6% to $185,000, according to Acxiom/DataQuick.

The results were similar in Orange County, where October sales dropped 6% on a year-over-year basis--the first decline in 16 months--and the median sales price rose 10.6% to $230,000.

John Karevoll, an analyst at Acxiom/DataQuick, said much of the decline was probably related to a sharp but brief bump in mortgage rates in early October that caused some deals to be postponed. In addition, the drop in financial markets during the summer could have also spilled over into the real estate markets.

“We think there was a hiccup in the activity,” said Karevoll, who says he expects sales to remain relatively healthy.

Despite the declines in Los Angeles and Orange counties, October sales in the five-county Southern California region rose 4.9% compared with the same month last year to 24,021 properties--the highest sales count for any October this decade.

The median sales price for a Southern California home in October rose 7.6% to $184,000.

Ventura County and the Inland Empire continued to post strong year-over-year gains in sales, according to Acxiom/DataQuick. Riverside County led the way with a 26.4% jump in sales over the same month last year, while the median sales price rose 5.3%.

The largest increase in prices was reported in San Diego County, where the median sales price rose 11.8% to $199,000.

Many real estate observers have been forecasting a slowdown in the Southern California housing market in response to Asia’s economic problems and a related easing of the domestic economy.

In its annual market outlook, the California Assn. of Realtors projected that the median sales price of an existing, single-family home will rise about 10% this year to $205,140. Next year, prices will rise, but at a much more modest rate of 4%. Sales, meanwhile, were projected to fall 8% next year.

Real estate broker Fred Sands, speaking at a real estate conference earlier this week, said that “the market has moderated now” but remains strong.

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Change of Pace

October home sales in Los Angeles and Orange counties suffered a year-over-year decline while sales in other areas continued to climb.

Home Sales

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County Oct. 1997 Oct. 1998 Los Angeles 9,146 8,916 Orange 4,173 3,913 San Diego 3,631 4,022 Riverside 2,388 3,018 San Bernardino 2,445 2,840 Ventura 1,115 1,312 Southern Calif. 22,898 24,021

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Median Price

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County Oct. 1997 Oct. 1998 Los Angeles $172,000 $185,000 Orange $208,000 $230,000 San Diego $178,000 $199,000 Riverside $131,000 $138,000 San Bernardino $122,000 $129,000 Ventura $200,000 $216,000 Southern Calif. $171,000 $184,000

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Source: Acxiom/DataQuick Information Systems