Los Angeles Home Prices Drop To 2003 Levels
Monday, January 19, 2009
Los Angeles Home Prices Drop To 2003 Levels
Los Angeles and southern California home prices dropped to 2003 levels at the end of 2008. Read the article fro the Los Angeles Times:
Southern California home prices continued their decline at the end of 2008, closing the year at 2003 price levels, a real estate research firm reported today.
The December median sales price for all Southern California homes fell to $278,000, a 35% drop from the same month a year prior, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick.
The falling prices were again driven by sales of foreclosed properties, which comprised 56% of all homes sold in the region. Consequently, the lowest median sales prices were reported in San Bernardino County ($180,000) and Riverside County ($209,000), where foreclosures have been rampant.
Los Angeles County's median sales price of $320,000 was down 32% from December 2007, while Orange County's median price fell 30% to $397,000. San Diego's median price dropped 30% from December 2007, to $300,000. Ventura County's $338,000 median December sales price was down 36% from the prior year.
Low prices drove the number of Southern California homes sold in December up by 51% over the previous year.
Los Angeles County's median sales price of $320,000 was down 32% from December 2007, while Orange County's median price fell 30% to $397,000. San Diego's median price dropped 30% from December 2007, to $300,000. Ventura County's $338,000 median December sales price was down 36% from the prior year.
Low prices drove the number of Southern California homes sold in December up by 51% over the previous year.
"It does look like the spigot is being opened a little bit, at least for low-cost home purchases," said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president.
The typical monthly mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,239 last month, down from a revised $1,380 for the previous month, and down from a revised $2,060 for December year ago. Adjusted for inflation, current payments were 43.9% below typical payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. They were 54.0% below the current cycle's peak in July 2007.
The typical monthly mortgage payment that Southland buyers committed themselves to paying was $1,239 last month, down from a revised $1,380 for the previous month, and down from a revised $2,060 for December year ago. Adjusted for inflation, current payments were 43.9% below typical payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle. They were 54.0% below the current cycle's peak in July 2007.
