Southern California home sales may have finally hit bottom. That good news was relayed Wednesday when real estate tracking firm MDA DataQuick reported that the median price of a home in Southern California surged 6.4 percent in June from May to the highest level in 30 months.
Along with the 6.4% rise in prices from May, fewer than half of the sales were foreclosures -- the first time that has happened in nine months.
The median price in the six-county area climbed to $265,000 last month from $249,000 in May, accounting for a second consecutive month-to-month increase.
DataQuick attributes the jump to an increasing number of deals above $500,000, as more buyers responded to price cuts and found it easier to secure financing. Resales of such homes rose to 19.6 percent of all sales in June, up from a low of 13.4 percent in January.
Last month's median was the highest since last December's $278,000. But it was still 47.5 percent below the median price of $360,000 a year ago.
"I think we can now say with fair degree of confidence the pace of real home price declines has slowed dramatically," said Los Angeles economist Christopher Thornberg, who was an early predictor of the housing bubble.
Along with the 6.4% rise in prices from May, fewer than half of the sales were foreclosures -- the first time that has happened in nine months.
The median price in the six-county area climbed to $265,000 last month from $249,000 in May, accounting for a second consecutive month-to-month increase.
DataQuick attributes the jump to an increasing number of deals above $500,000, as more buyers responded to price cuts and found it easier to secure financing. Resales of such homes rose to 19.6 percent of all sales in June, up from a low of 13.4 percent in January.
Last month's median was the highest since last December's $278,000. But it was still 47.5 percent below the median price of $360,000 a year ago.
"I think we can now say with fair degree of confidence the pace of real home price declines has slowed dramatically," said Los Angeles economist Christopher Thornberg, who was an early predictor of the housing bubble.
But Thornberg and other analysts cautioned that the housing market remained wobbly and prices wouldn't rise substantially in many neighborhoods for months or even years. The median price of $265,000 is far below the 2007 peak of $505,000. What's more, California is struggling with one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation and mortgage defaults are continuing to rise. A surge in new foreclosures could squelch any potential recovery in the housing market.
