Southern California Home Sales Rise After Two-Year Slump

Southern California has slammed the brakes on falling home sales.

After 25 straight months of declining year-over-year sales, home sales rose 7 percent in January to 10,581 deals, the Orange County Register reported, citing figures from CoreLogic.

The volume of January sales still ranked as the third-lowest in records dating back 36 years.

Home prices, meanwhile, continued to climb during a severe shortage of homes on the market, CoreLogic reported.

The median price of a Southern California home was $705,000 in January, up by more than 5 percent from the year before.

Despite the gain, January’s median was down from the previous nine months. The month is typically the slowest of the year, reflecting deals signed during the holiday season when buyers and sellers generally take a break.

January’s median was $45,000 below the all-time high of $750,000 reached in April 2022, right before climbing mortgage rates combined with high prices to slow buyer demand.

Both prices and sales were up year-over-year in all six Southern California counties.

Orange County had the biggest gain in both prices and sales, with the median up 12 percent to nearly $1.07 million. Sales increased 13 percent year-over-year.

Los Angeles County had the smallest price gain percentage-wise, with the median rising 4.6 percent to $800,000.

The Inland Empire continued to have the best housing bargains, with a median price of $475,000 in San Bernardino County and $550,000 in Riverside County. But their annual price growth was 5.6 percent in San Bernardino County and 2.1 percent in Riverside County.

A lack of homes for sale continued to prop up prices, according to the Register.

The Southland averaged fewer than 39,000 homes for sale in November and December, when most of January’s transactions went under contract, according to Redfin.

The region had 37,594 active listings in January, down 8 percent from the previous year and 39 percent below the average for the previous 11 years. All six Southern California counties saw declines in real estate listings.

High mortgage rates continued to dampen both sales and listings.

Interest rates for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.4 percent in November and 6.8 percent in December, according to Freddie Mac.

The typical monthly payment for a Southern California home was nearly $3,800 in December, not counting taxes, insurance and the HOA, or homeowner association fees. In addition to dampening demand, higher rates discouraged homeowners from giving up their low mortgage rates by selling their house.

— Dana Bartholomew