State home sale expected to rise

Sales of homes in California are expected to rise 3.3 percent in 2021, to 392,510 units, according to the California Association of Realtors.

That “modest” increase will be accompanied by a 1.3  percent increase in the median price of a single-family home, to $648,760, the Los Angeles-based trade group predicted.

“While home prices rose sharply in 2020, driven by strong sales of higher-priced properties and a limited inventory of homes for sale, the pace of price growth will be more moderate in the coming year,” said Leslie Appleton-Young, the association’s senior vice president and chief economist, in the statement.

“The uncertainty about the pandemic, sluggish economic growth, a rise in foreclosures, and the volatility of the stock market are all unknown factors that could keep prices in check and prevent the statewide median price from rising too fast.”

The association is also predicting the U.S. gross domestic product will grow 4.2 percent in 2021, and that state unemployment will drop to nine percent. Average interest rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage will be 3.1 percent, essentially unchanged from 2010, according to the association.