The real estate market in Palm Springs is heating up again. At The Paul Kaplan Group, we had the best December in years, selling over 14 homes in December, which is normally the slowest month of the year.
The California Association of Realtors posted the following press release- California home sales rise in December, posting 11-month sales high, C.A.R. reports
LOS ANGELES (Jan. 17) – California home sales rose for the third consecutivemonth in December, marking the highest level since January 2011, according todata from the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.). Sales also were upfrom a year ago, marking the sixth consecutive annual increase.
“With the economy slowly improving, home buyers – investors and first-timebuyers alike – took advantage of affordable interest rates and made a push toclose escrow by the end of year,” said C.A.R. President LeFrancis Arnold.“Robust sales over the past few months signal the housing market is treadingabove water on its own in the first full year without the government stimulusthat has helped housing in the last couple of years.”
Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in Californiatotaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 520,940 in December, accordingto information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associationsand MLSs statewide. December’s sales were up 3.3 percent from November’srevised pace of 504,420 and were up 0.1 percent from the revised 520,330 salespace recorded in December 2010. The statewide sales figure represents whatwould be the total number of homes sold during 2011 if sales maintained theDecember pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonalfactors that typically influence home sales.
The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home postedits second consecutive monthly gain, increasing 1.8 percent to $285,920 inDecember, up from a revised $280,960 in November. However, the median price wasdown 6.2 percent from the revised $304,770 median price recorded in December2010.
“Fourth quarter sales were stronger than we expected, thanks to recentimproving consumer confidence and an economy that’s slowly showing signs ofgrowth. As a result, sales came in slightly above our fall projection,” saidC.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “For 2011 as awhole, sales reached a preliminary 497,860 homes sold statewide, up 1.1 percentfrom the 492,290 homes sold in 2010. However, the statewide median pricedeclined 6.3 percent for the year, to reach a preliminary $285,950, down fromthe revised $305,010 recorded in 2010.
“Home prices are stabilizing for the distressed market, where we see robustdemand, but we continue to see downward pressure on home prices in some higherend markets,” said Appleton-Young.
Other key facts of C.A.R.’s December 2011 resale housing report include:
- Housing inventory remains tight throughout California, with the UnsoldInventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes declining to 4.2months in December, down from 5.0 months in November and down from a 5.0-monthsupply in December 2010. The index indicates the number of months needed todeplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.
- Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 3.96 percent duringDecember 2011, down from 4.71 percent in December 2010, according to FreddieMac. Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 2.79 percent in December 2011,compared with 3.31 percent in December 2010.
- The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home edged up to58.7 days in December 2011, compared with a revised 58.0 days for the sameperiod a year ago.
For more information on Palm Springs real estate, visit PaulKaplanGroup.com
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