California Home Prices Inch Upward

Prices of homes in California increased in August at the lowest annual rate in nine years, reported DataQuick Information Systems.
By: Alex Veiga: REALTOR® Magazine Online
The statewide median price was $472,000 in August, a 3.5 percent increase over the year-ago period. It was the smallest increase since June 1997, when statewide home prices rose just 2.8 percent.

In four counties, prices declined. The steepest drop was 6.7 percent in San Mateo County. Other decreases were seen in Marin County, 2.3 percent; San Diego County, 2.2 percent; and Alameda County, 1.5 percent.

Appreciation in Sonoma, Santa Clara, San Francisco, and Contra Costa counties was essentially flat.

A total of 49,800 new and resale houses and condominiums were sold statewide last month, a 25.1 percent decline from a year ago but a 12.5 percent increase from July.

“More and more, sellers are reaching the conclusion, ‘Maybe now is the time to settle, because we may not gain much more by waiting,’” says John Karevoll, an analyst with DataQuick.