L.A. Red Hot Real Estate Market Shows Signs of Slowing Down

LOS ANGELES, CA - The median price of a home in Los Angeles County rose by 7.3 percent in April, compared with the same month a year ago, while the number of homes sold dipped by 2.3 percent, a real estate information service announced Tuesday.

According to CoreLogic, the median price of a Los Angeles County home was $520,000 last month, up from $484,750 in April 2015. A total of 6,976 homes were sold in the county, down from 7,137 during the same month the previous year.

In Orange County, the median price was $645,000 last month, up 7.5 percent from $600,000 in April 2015. The number of homes sold dropped by 6.5 percent, from 3,514 in April 2015 to 3,285 last month.

A total of 21,312 new and resale houses and condos changed hands in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month, according to CoreLogic. That was up 4.2 percent from 20,449 in March and down 3.2 percent from 22,020 in April 2015.

The median price of a Southern California home was $458,000 in April, up 2.2 percent from $448,000 in March and up 6.8 percent from $429,000 in April 2015.

"Southern California's spring home-buying season got off to a lackluster start with total April sales dipping modestly from a year ago, marking only the second month in the past year to log a year-over-year decline in activity," said Andrew LePage, a research analyst for CoreLogic. "Through the first four months of this year sales are up less than 3 percent from the same period last year and remain below average. Job growth, household growth and low mortgage rates are fueling housing demand, but many would-be homebuyers continue to struggle with inventory, credit and affordability constraints."

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock