Southern California home sales up sharply month-to-month, slightly year-to-year

Southe Califoia’s home buying season got off to its typical start in March with sales making a big gain from February and a modest increase from a year earlier, a market tracker said Monday

Prices also increased from the year-ago level, Irvine-based CoreLogic said.

Last month, sales on new and previously owned houses and housed and condominiums in the six-county region rose 34.5 percent from February to 20,370 transactions, the company said.

That is close to the average monthly increase of 35 percent dating back to 1988, when record keeping began.

Sales rose 2 percent from a year earlier.

“Last month, the housing market experienced a normal, seasonal spike from February in the number of recorded transactions, which reflects more buyers and sellers entering the market as the holidays and winter faded,” CoreLogic research analyst Andrew LePage said.

During March, the region’s median price rose 6 percent from a year ago to $449,000. That price also marks a 4 percent increase from February.

The report said that:

• In Los Angeles County, sales fell 1 percent from a year ago to 6,610 and increased 33 percent from February. The median price rose 6 percent from a year ago to $506,000, which is also up 4 percent from February.

• In Orange County, sales rose 0.8 percent from a year ago to 3,181, and they soared 37 percent from February. The median price increased 7 percent from a year earlier to $625,000 and gained 2.5 percent from February.

• Orange County’s median price is now just 3 percent under the record high of $645,000 hit in June of 2007, CoreLogic said. It is the closest of any of the counties to a pre-recession price level.

• In Riverside County sales increased 5 percent from a year earlier to 3,583 and increased 32 percent from February. The county’s median price rose 8 percent from a year ago to $330,000, up 5 percent from February.

• San Beardino’s sales increased 8 percent from a year ago to 2,528 and were up 33.5 percent from February. The median price rose 5 percent from a year earlier to $272,000 and fell 1.1 percent from February.

LePage said that scant inventory and decreasing affordability might hold back sales in the coming months.

“Prices have come a long way in the last three years, and credit is still moderately tight,” he said.

The median sale price has risen year over year for 48 consecutive months, and the increases have been in single digits for the last 22 consecutive months. CoreLogic said.

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The March median was 11 percent below the peak median of $505,000 reached in March, April, May and July of 2007 CoreLogic said.

Cash buyers accounted for 23 percent of March sales, down from 25 percent from February and also down from 25 percent a year ago. The cash sales share peaked in February 2013 at 37.5 percent.

“Over the next few months, we’ll find out whether or not several years of rising home prices will trigger a more significant run-up in inventory than we’ve seen during the spring-summer season over the past couple of years,” LePage said. “In recent months, the new-home market has registered a stronger heartbeat, contributing more to the overall inventory.”