IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Like all of Southern California, the Inland Empire posted strong housing numbers in September, both in sales and in median prices.
Sales in Riverside and San Bernardino counties last month were up 12.6 percent and 6.9 percent respectively compared with September 2014, according to data released Monday by CoreLogic in Irvine.
The two county region posted equally strong pricing numbers.
The median price of a single-family home Riverside County last month was $315,000, a nearly eight percent increase year-over-year. San Bernardino County’s median price, $268,000, was a 13.1 percent increase compared with September of last year, Irvine-based CoreLogic reported its monthly analysis of the Southern California housing market.
Compared with August, sales were unchanged in Riverside County and down 0.7 percent in San Bernardino County.
The Inland housing market might finally be in full recovery mode, regional economist John Husing said.
“I think we’re finally starting to see people get out of their depression,” Husing said. “People have been depressed about the economy for a long time, but now they’re starting to get out of that, and we’re seeing the result in the housing numbers.”
With employment up and people having more money to spend, the rise in prices might be pushing some people into the housing market.
“It can work that way, even though it’s seems like it should be the opposite,” Husing said. “People see prices going up and they say ‘I need to get in.’ Eventually, higher prices would affect buying, but not yet.”
Southern California sales were up 13.1 percent year-over-year and 0.4 percent month-over-month in September. The median price of a home – $435,000 – was up 6.1percent year-over-year but down 0.7 percent compared with August, according to CoreLogic.
