Median LA Home Price Passes Half Million Mark amid Climb in Prices and Sales

Los Angeles -- Sales of existing homes in Los Angeles County increased 1.2 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 6.9 percent between May and June in Los Angeles County, dovetailing with a statewide surge in sales of existing single-family dwellings. In Orange County, June sales dipped by 0.5 percent compared to June 2015, but sales increased 4.3 percent between May and June.

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 Los Angeles County, the median home price was $502,190, compared to $467,290 in May and $473,290 in June 2015. The Orange County median was $759,490 last month, up from $735,910 in May and $716,730 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 Los Angeles County, it was about 39 days, compared to 50.5 days in Orange County.

City News Service