By Jackson Griffin
Southern California home prices dropped by 4.2 percent last month from a year earlier amid barriers to financing for high-end properties, said a Bloomberg Businessweek article reporting the latest DataQuick numbers.
For homes and condominiums in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties, the median paid price fell to $275,000 in November. This is down from November last year, which posted $287,000, and up 1.9 percent from October 2011’s median paid price of $270,000, said DataQuick.
Home sales topping the $500,000 mark dropped by nearly 16 percent from 2010. The company blamed the reduced loan limits in the luxury market which began as of Oct. 1 this year. Both Los Angeles County and Orange County had the loan limit drop to $625,000 from $725,750.
“Part of it is the economy and would-be buyers’ uncertainty — about jobs, home prices and a potential surge in foreclosed properties hitting the market,” DataQuick President John Walsh said in a statement. “Part of it’s the folks who can’t move up because they’re upside down with their mortgages. And many who want to buy more expensive homes struggle with the financing.”
Mortgages for amounts higher than the old limit of $417,000 comprised around 15 percent of purchase lending in November. This a year-over-year decrease of 18 percent, said DataQuick.
In the region as a whole, 16,884 homes sold in November this year, an increase of 4.2 percent from 2010 and a marginal 0.3 percent from October. According to the article, the sales were boosted by a demand of first-time home purchasers and investors buying in the market priced below $400,000. Houses within that range saw a 6.1 percent rise in sales over last year, said DataQuick.
[The Los Angeles home shown above is listed at $985,000.]
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