State home sales are down

Single-family home sales in California dipped slightly in May, mostly because of high prices and a shortage of available homes.

Sales dropped 0.6 percent compared with April and were down 9.5 year-over-year, according to data released by the California Association of Realtors.

Statewide, 391,030 housing units were sold last month, the tenth consecutive month that sales were under 400,000, according to the data.

Those numbers are based on a survey of 90 local real estate associations and multiple listing services. All of the numbers are adjusted to account for seasonal data that normally impact home sales.

Since last summer, the state housing market has been moving toward slower sales, slightly higher inventory and a slowdown in price increases, said Kevin Brown, president of the association, in a statement.

“Generally speaking, buyers are feeling less urgency to buy as affordability has become more of an issue and lending standards continue to remain tight,” Brown said in the statement. “However, a recent surge in mortgage applications, due partially to declining interest rates, may indicate that higher housing demand can be expected in the coming months.”

May was the third consecutive month that home prices rose both month-to-month and year-to-year. May’s median price of $465,960 was a 3.7 percent increase compared with April and was up 11.7 percent compared with May 2013.

The statewide median home price has increased year-over-year for the past 27 months, according to the data.