Bay Area Home Sales Dip From Last Month

BAY AREA, CA – Homes sales in the Bay Area dipped between August and September but were up slightly from a year ago, according to data released Thursday by the research firm CoreLogic.

The number of new and resale homes sold last month in the region was 7,974, down 3.3 percent from 8,245 in August but up 1.4 percent from 7,862 a year ago.

The median price followed the same pattern, with September prices down 1.7 percent to $654,000 from $665,000 in August, but up 3.8 percent from $630,000 in September 2015.

Sales for the summer's June to September period also fell compared with last year, dropping 5 percent despite a dip in mortgage rates and a healthy job market.

CoreLogic analyst Andrew LePage attributed the decline to affordability and limited inventory.

More homes were sold in Contra Costa County in September than any other Bay Area county. Sellers parted with 1,689 homes in the county last month, compared with 1,676 in Santa Clara County and 1,671 in Alameda County, the counties with the next highest number of sales.

The greatest increase in home prices between August and September was in Napa County, where the median price jumped 6.1 percent. The highest median price in the Bay Area was $1.1 million in San Francisco.

Home sales of $500,000 or more made up 68 percent of last month's sales, CoreLogic officials said.

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--Bay City News/Patch file photo