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According to MDA Dataquick, Southern California housing prices fell 23 percent in July from a year earlier as foreclosures dominated sales for the month. The median price dropped to $268,000 from $348,000 a year earlier, the San Diego-based research company said recently in a statement. Homes sales were up almost 19 percent from a year earlier to 24,104 for the six counties; Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange. “There’s still quite a bit of distress out there,” John Walsh, Dataquick’s president, said in a statement. “Even if we are at or near bottom, history suggests we could bounce along that bottom for quite a while.”
Foreclosures, which were down significantly from monthly totals in the first half of the year, still accounted for 43 percent of sales and weighed on the overall price average. The July foreclosure sales as a percentage of total sales registered its lowest number since June of 2008, MDA DataQuick said.
The July median price rose 1 percent from June making it the third consecutive monthly increase, according to the report. That was due in part to a larger share of home purchases financed with loans of more than $417,000. About 15 percent of transactions involved such loans, the highest in 11 months. Additionally, homes priced at $500,000 and above were 20 percent of transactions, compared with 15 percent in March.
Similar to foreclosure trends being seen across the country, housing prices are looking vulnerable and are likely to fall more in expensive coastal areas as employers cut jobs in the recession and homeowners are forced to reduce asking prices, said MDA Dataquick analyst Andrew LePage. “Sellers are getting more realistic,” LePage said in an interview. “It looks like prices are coming down.” Another factor could be that increasing foreclosures in high end neighborhoods could drag down prices as well. Sales at high end of the market, regardless of how much their prices are down in percentage terms, can still lift the median price average because the statistic is calculated strictly on dollar price.
Investors and absentee buyers played a significant role in home sales, buying 19% homes across the region through foreclosure auctions during the month. That number was up 3 points from July 2008’s total of 16%. MDA Dataquick defines absentee buyers as those whose property tax bills are sent to an address different from the one being purchased. Sales increased in five of the six counties, led by San Bernardino’s 41% gain. Sales rose 23% in Los Angeles, 14% in Riverside, 12% in Orange and 11% in San Diego. Sales fell 4% in Ventura. Purchases financed through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) accounted for 37 percent of July home sales, up from 20 percent a year earlier, MDA DataQuick said. FHA purchases are generally assumed to be made by first time buyers.
Prices decreases were recorded in all six counties in the region, led by a year on year drop of 39% in San Bernardino to a median of $140,000. The median fell 29% to $185,000 in Riverside; 20% to $321,000 in Los Angeles; 12% to $320,000 in San Diego; 11% to $375,000 in Ventura; and 9% to $420,000 in Orange.  The July median price was 47 percent below the market peak of $505,000 which held through the spring and summer of 2007, MDA DataQuick said.

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