C.A.R. reports sales increased 117.1 percent in October

For release:Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008

Home sales increased 117.1 percent in October in
California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of
an existing home fell 39.9 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
(C.A.R.) reported today.

Two things to note here: First, the huge increase in statewide sales is due to increased volume of sales in regions with a high concentration of distressed properties. Second, the sharp decline in the median price of homes does not mean that home values have dropped by that percentage. It is reflecting that, overall, more lower priced homes (distressed properties) than higher priced homes are selling, and are therefore skewing the median price lower. Conversely, in areas where the composition of housing demand was for more higher priced properties than last year, the median price has increased. One local example is the city of Alhambra, were the median price for Oct. '08 is 13.4% higher than the same period a year ago.

Read the full article here.

And from HousingWire:

Home prices continued to fall in local markets across the nation in
September, according to a monthly Housing Market Report released Monday by New York-based Radar Logic Inc., a member of the First American Corp. family.
Seasonal trends, distressed-sale discounts and a generally weak market were said
to have driven the declines in 23 of the 25 Metropolitan Statistical Areas
(MSAs) Radar Logic tracks.

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The key to understanding the overall monthly price trends, however, is in motivated transactions — or foreclosure sales — as a percent of total transactions. Motivated sales increased in all 25 MSAs relative to September 2007. Motivated sales versus other sales increased 631.4 percent over last year in the Los Angeles market, 321.2 percent in the Miami market and 723 percent in the Phoenix housing market. With so many foreclosure sales weighing in on the numbers, it’s easy to account for the year-over-year price-per-square-foot declines in Los Angeles (-27.4 percent), Miami (-23.9 percent) and Phoenix (-29.3 percent).

“Within MSAs, motivated sales tended to be concentrated in low-price zip codes, while ‘other’ sales, those not classified as motivated, tended to be more evenly distributed across zip codes,” Radar Logic reported, based on its findings. But if motivated sales in these areas should taper off in coming years due to the Hope for Homeowners program rolling out in October, increased state intervention in foreclosure proceedings and a move by the GSEs and financial institutions to start modifying mortgages and keep people in their homes, the path of pricing and transactions count may turn in a different direction.

Read the full article here.