SoCal home prices hit another record in July, but rate of increase slows

Median prices climbed less than $2K month-over-month after more dramatic gains from March to June

(Unsplash via Abbie Bernet)
(Unsplash via Abbie Bernet)

Home prices in Southern California set records again in July, but the pace of gains has slowed significantly from recent months.

The median sales price across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura Counties came to $681,750 in July, according to the Los Angeles Times.

That’s a 20 percent gain over July 2020, but up less than $2,000 from the record $680,000 set in June.

By comparison, the median sales price increased by $50,000 from March to June, or a pace of about $16,666 per month.

A dearth of listings and a surge in demand characterized the market for about a year after the first months of the pandemic as prices increased and buyers regularly bid above asking price to secure properties.

Jordan Levine, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors, said that the market remains competitive, but buyer fatigue and an increase in listings are having an impact.

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“You just have something that is getting back to an equilibrium after being so incredibly imbalanced,” Levine said.

The median sales price in L.A. County reached $795,000 in June, up 18.7 percent from June of last year. Sales were up 20.2 percent year-over-year.

Riverside and San Bernardino Counties — the counties with the lowest median sales prices in the region — each recorded year-over-year gains of more than 20 percent.

San Bernardino County’s median sales price reached $455,000, while Riverside County’s hit $525,000.

Orange County remains the most expensive in the region with a median sales price of $904,000, a 16.6 percent increase from a year ago.

[LAT] — Dennis Lynch