Last Time This Many Homes Sold in a Month? June 1989

Home sales in Southern California surged in August to the highest level in 12 years, the result of reasonable mortgage interest rates and strong demand.

Prices increased at a moderate pace and reached new highs last month, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 32,386 new and resale houses and condos were sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month.

That was up 11.9% from 28,944 for the month before, and up 12.7% from 28,739 for August last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Last month’s sales count was the highest since June 1989, when 32,968 homes were sold. So far this year 204,848 homes have been sold in the region, up 1.7% from 201,454 for the same eight-month period last year.

“It’s difficult to predict what effect the tragedy of two weeks ago will have on home sales,” said Mike Ela, DataQuick president. “Sales will certainly drop short term because of uncertainty and turbulence. But there is a good chance the market will kick back into gear because of steady demand in the region and low mortgage interest rates.” The median price paid for a Southland home was $237,000 last month, a new record. That was up 1.3% from $234,000 for July, and up 12.3% from $211,000 for August last year.

The typical mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,205 in August.

A year ago it was $1,185 when interest rates were higher.

The all-time peak was April 1989 at $1,360, DataQuick reported.