Countywide Home Sales up 4 Percent Compared to Last Year

Riverside County, CA -- Sales of existing homes in Riverside County increased 4.4 percent last month compared to the same time a year ago, even as prices climbed, according to a report released today by the California Association of Realtors.

CAR figures show that sales countywide were up 8.1 percent between May and June, dovetailing with a statewide surge in sales of existing single-family dwellings.

More than 450,000 properties were sold in June -- a 10 percent month-to- month jump in sales throughout California, according to the data.

The statewide median home price in June was $519,440 -- 5.5 percent more than a year before, according to CAR. In Riverside County, the median home price was $357,810, compared to $353,900 in May and $337,380 in June 2015.

The median represents the point at which half of homes sell above a price, and the other half below it.
"The annual gain in the median home price is being driven by more sales at the mid-segment housing market, which comprise at least half of the overall demand," said CAR Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young.

She said price growth was "cooling" in some spots, including the San Francisco metropolitan area.

According to CAR's Unsold Inventory Index for June, a home in California was on the market an average 27 days before it sold. In Riverside County, it was 49 days. In the Inland Empire as a whole, an existing single-family home would likely be listed for 45.2 days before a sale.

Based on June figures, it would take 3.6 months to clear all the single- family properties on the market countywide, according to Los Angeles-based CAR.

--City News Service. Image from Shutterstock