- theMReport.com - https://themreport.com -

California Home Sales Come in Below Average

According to DataQuick [1], California home sales were up 28.2 percent in February but down 12.8 percent from March 2013. While these kinds of gains would look good in any other situation, in the California real estate market, they don't add up to much.

While many are predicting a recovery in California, last month’s sales were the lowest for a March since 2008, when 24,565 homes sold—a record low for the month of March. Last month's sales were 23.9 percent below the average of 43,251 sales for all months of March since 1988, when DataQuick's statistics begin.

California sales haven’t been above average for any particular month in more than eight years, which shows that the recovery may be further away than anyone hoped.

That said, it’s not all doom and gloom. The median price paid for a home in California last month was $376,000, which is up 5.9 percent from $355,000 in February and up 20.1 percent from $313,000 in March 2013. Last month’s median sale price was the highest since it was $383,000 in January 2008. This March was the 25th consecutive month in which the state's median rose on a year-over-year basis, and it was the 16th straight month with a gain exceeding 20 percent, which is worth getting excited about.