Southern California Home Sales Tumble

Home sales in Southern California fell 10.7 percent in July year-over-year, the largest 12-month decline of any month in almost two years, according to data released Wednesday.

In the Inland Empire, sales of new and resale houses and condominiums were down 7.8 percent in Riverside County and 11.6 percent in San Bernardino County, Irvine-based CoreLogic’s reported in its monthly analysis of the Southern California housing market.

Prices, however, remained strong: the median price for all Southern California homes last month was $465,000, a 6.2 percent increase compared with July 2015.

The median price of a Southern California home has now increased for 52 consecutive months, although the median’s year-over-year gains have been single-digit for the last 22 consecutive months, according to CoreLogic.

In the Inland Empire, Riverside County recorded a median price of $335,000 last month, a 5.2 percent increase compared with July 2015, while San Bernardino County’s median price – $280,000 – represented a 4.9 percent increase year-over-year.

CoreLogic is attributing the drop in sales not to the increase in prices but to a quirk in the calendar. It noted that last month had 20 business days, two fewer than July 2015. One local economist said that explanation is believable but speculated that other factors might have caused the housing numbers to drop.

“The economy has been expanding for so long that some slowdown is probably inevitable,” said Jay Prag, professor of economics and finance at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. “The economy is slowing down. We’re at about one percent growth right now, and that’s probably where we’ll stay for a while.”