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Is California Real Estate Near a Bottom?
(BUSINESS WEEK) - California was one of the first states to enter the housing downtown. Could it be one of the first to recover?
First-time home buyers and investors are jumping to take advantage of state and federal tax incentives, low interest rates, and prices that are more affordable than they have been in many years. California’s median home price climbed in April on a monthly basis for the second straight month. That hasn’t happened since August 2007, the California Association of Realtors reported on May 28. Home sales in April rose 49% compared with April 2008.
The most promising sign of stabilization is the strikingly low inventory of unsold homes—well below the historical average. It would now take 4.6 months to deplete the state’s supply of unsold houses at the current sales pace. Supply was as high as 16.6 months in January 2008, and the long-term average for the state is about seven months.
The median price for a single-family home in California was $256,700 in April, down 36.5% from a year earlier but 1.4% higher than the previous month, according to the California Association of Realtors. Other states aren’t faring as well. Inventory levels in Arizona and Nevada remain high. And Florida’s supply of unsold homes is two or three times normal levels, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine, Calif.
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[...] McEneney, Mike (MC1953) cleans up my question marksJEmail: Martin, Margaret (MC1998) Is California Real Estate Near a Bottom? - realtynewsnow.com 05/31/2009 ( BUSINESS WEEK ) - California was one of the first states to enter [...]