IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Sales of single-family homes in California were down in March compared with the previous year, mostly because of a drop in inventory, according to the California Association of Realtors.
About 367,000 single-family homes were sold in March statewide, the highest number of sales recorded in four months, according to the association’s monthly report on the state housing market.
Those numbers, however, aren’t as healthy as they might appear at first glance. Sales were down 12.3 percent compared with March 2013, and they were below 400,000 for the fifth consecutive month, according to the data.
As supply tightened, prices inevitably went up. The median price of a single-family home in California last month was $435,470, nearly 15 percent higher than it was in March 2013, according to the data.
“The market is taking a hit from lower housing affordability compared to a year ago, which led to a decline in home sales from last year,” association president Kevin Brown said in a statement. “Concerns over tighter lending standards and increased borrowing costs are also contributing factors to the sluggish market, as they both negatively impact the bottom line of homebuyers who obtain financing through mortgages.”
In the Inland region, the median price of a home during March was $271,250, a 19 percent year-over-year increase, according to the data.
