Southern California housing market perks up

The Southern California housing market got a much-needed boost in July, helped in part by a drop in mortgage rates and a jump in inventory.

Twenty two thousand seventy one new and existing single-family houses and condominiums were sold in the six-county region last month, up 3.7 percent from July 2018, Irvine-based CoreLogic reported.

That ended 11 consecutive months of declines in year-over-year sales. It was also the strongest July since 2015, when 24,317 homes and condominiums changed hands in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Ventura counties and the Inland Empire.

Also, sales were up 6.1 percent between June and July.  Since 1988, when the monthly survey of the Southern California housing market began, the average change in sales between June and July has been a decrease of 6.2 percent.

“After 11 months of year-over-year declines, Southern California posted a modest annual increase in home sales in July,” said Andrew LePage, an analyst, with CoreLogic  “The gain is no surprise given the significant drop in mortgage rates in recent months, combined with a healthy job market, income growth and a rise in inventory.

“The flattening of price growth and lower mortgage rates can make a meaningful difference for some.”

The median price a home in Southern California last month was $540,000, down 0.3 percent  month-over-month and up nearly two percent year-over-year.

In the Inland Empire, year-over-year sales of homes and condominiums rose 8.6 percent in Riverside County and 3.3 percent in San Bernardino County.

Local median prices – $384,000 in Riverside County and $325,000 in San Bernardino County, were increases of 2.9 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively, compared with July 2018, CoreLogic reported.