Saratoga News

Homes

The Real Deal

Los Gatos is in the state's top 10

Los Gatos and Cupertino made the top 10 list of median home prices in California for February. The median price of an existing home in California in February increased 13.7 percent and sales decreased 15.5 percent compared with the same period a year ago, according to a report from the California Association of Realtors.

"Sales posted a slight increase last month compared with January 2006, as the downward drift in interest rates late last year caused an uptick in market activity," said the association's president, Vince Malta. "As expected, year-over-year sales continued to decline from the robust levels of a year ago."

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 513,745 in February, according to information collected from more than 90 local Realtor associations statewide. Statewide home resale activity decreased 15.5 percent from the 608,160 sales pace recorded in February 2005.

The statewide sales figure represents what the total number of homes sold during 2006 would be if sales maintained the February pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.

The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during February 2006 was $535,470, a 13.7 percent increase over the $470,920 median for February 2005. The February 2006 median price decreased 2.9 percent compared with January's $551,300 median price.

"Unsold inventory rose again in February to a 6.7 month supply, one of the highest inventory levels in several years," said Leslie Appleton-Young, the association's vice president and chief economist. "We expect the pace of price appreciation to slow from the 13 to 17 percent range of 2005 to 10 percent this year as rising inventory levels mitigate some of the upward pressure on home prices. The higher-priced coastal areas will see price gains in the mid-single digits while the inland areas will see increases in excess of 10 percent."

Thirty-year fixed mortgage interest rates averaged 6.25 percent during February 2006, compared with 5.63 percent in February 2005, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable mortgage interest rates averaged 5.34 percent in February 2006 compared with 4.16 percent in February 2005.

The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 52 days in February 2006, compared with 40 days (revised) for the same period a year ago.

Statewide, the 10 cities and communities with the highest median home prices in California during February 2006 were: Newport Beach, $1,287,500; Los Gatos, $1,116,500; Santa Barbara, $1,050,000; Cupertino, $923,500; San Clemente, $920,000; Dana Point, $880,000; Santa Monica, $879,000; San Juan Capistrano, $870,000; Danville, $862,500; Yorba Linda, $795,000.

The top 10 lists are generated for incorporated cities with a minimum of 30 recorded sales in the month.

Information provided in this column is presented by the Realtor members of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors at www.silvar.org. Send questions on any topic to pcardus@silvar.org.