Central Coast vs. State-Wide StatsSales and Price Figures for May
By Zachary Johnson
California home sales in May were down 5.8% from April and down 14.4% from the previous year. The slowdown in the demand is widely contributed to the concern from would-be buyers about the strength of the economy, the difficult buying process that’s associated with many short-sales and REOs, and the difficulties in obtaining acceptable financing. These factors along with the circumstance of lenders listing distressed properties at a more deliberate pace, are all playing a role in reduced home sales and longer listing periods.
The California statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home sold, decreased by 70 basis points (0.7%) from April to May going from $293,800 to $291,760. May’s median price was down 10.9% from the $327,460 recorded in May of 2010.
The figures coming out this month were not a surprise, however, since there was a significant decrease in April pending sales coupled with an unusually strong performance last May, largely due to the expiring tax credits pushing sales and prices up somewhat artificially. The economic difficulties of recent past are also reflected in the sales and price figures.
Unsold Inventory for existing, single-family detached homes was 5.4 months in May, unchanged from April, but up as compared with May of 2010 which produced a 4.5 month supply.
Mortgage rates have seemed to remain on the lower end of the historical spectrum. 30 year fixed mortgage interest rates averaged 4.64% during May 2011, down from 4.89% in May of 2010, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) interest rates averaged 3.13% in May, compared to 4.01 the same time last year.
Despite the difficulties being felt throughout California, the Central Coast has been faring better. For San Luis Obispo County, the sales pace for an existing Single Family Home decreased by only 3.4% from April and actually INCREASED by 5.0% from May 2010. A 2.4% and 19.4% respective difference, for the better, as compared to the state-wide averages. The decrease in median price from April to May surpassed the state’s figures by about 1.5%, unfortunately going from $390,180 down to $381,450. However, the year over year figure for SLO County only decreased by 1.3% from $386,670 to $381,450, a large contrast to the 10.9% decrease for all of California during the same time. Another important note, inventory is also down by 11.7% from May of last year.
Santa Barbara County had even better figures in most areas. The main blow was a 17.0% year over year decrease in the median price of existing single-family homes. In May of 2010 the median price for this category was $513,890 and for May of 2011 it was recorded as $426,320. The positive aspect of May’s figure, is that it’s up 9.10% from April 2011’s median price of $390,910. The sales pace for SB County is also very uplifting, with sales up 4.7% from May 2010 and sales up an astonishing 17.6% just from April.
With the larger market of California suffering some recent troubles, the data from the Central Coast shows you that we do still live in somewhat of a bubble here. And because our area is considered to be so desirable to many “outsiders”, we are able to stay ahead of state and national markets, something that should be kept in mind whenever reading or listening to the news regarding such topics. We tend to hold our value and recover at a higher level than the rest of the state and nation in large. (http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/2011newsreleases/maysalesprice/, 06/15/11)
