Housing market stays strong

March was a solid month for the Southern California housing market.

A total of 22,042 houses and condominiums, both new and resale, changed hands last month, according to data released Tuesday by CoreLogic in Irvine.

That was a 47.6 percent increase month-over-month and a 7.8 percent increase compared with March 2016.

The average change in sales between February and March is 36.9 percent, making the third month of the year one of the more popular months for buying a home. This year’s increase was the largest between those two months in 12 years, CoreLogic reported in its monthly assessment of the regional housing market.

The median price of a home last month in Southern Californian – the Inland Empire plus Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Ventura counties – was $480,000, a 4.3 percent increase month-over-month and a 7.1 percent increase year-over-year.

That was the largest median price for Southern California since August 2007, when that number hit $500,000.

“If the current trends hold, the region’s median sale price could set a record this year, at least in nominal terms,” said Andrew LePage, research analyst with CoreLogic.

In the Inland Empire, month-over month sales were up 10.2 percent in Riverside County and six percent in San Bernardino County. Year-over-year, sales were up 48.9 percent and 38.8 percent, respectively.

The median price of a home in Riverside County last month was $352,955, up 1.9 percent  month-over-month and seven percent year-over-year.

In San Bernardino County, the $305,000 median price represented a 3.4 percent rise compared with February and a 12.1 increase year-over-year, according to CoreLogic.