Southern California, Bay Area Home Sales Highest in a Year, Median Prices Highest Since 2010

1. Southern California home sales in June shot up more than usual from May (11.6% vs. 6.2% historical average) to the highest level for any month since June 2010, when the market got its last big boost from homebuyer tax credits. The median price paid for all new and resale Southland houses and condos purchased last month was $285,000. That was up 1.8 percent from $280,000 in May and the highest since $290,000 last December, but still down 5.0 percent from $300,000 in June 2010.

2. Bay Area home sales rose sharply last month from May to the highest level for any month since June 2010, when outgoing homebuyer tax credits gave housing demand a final boost, and median prices edged up to a 2011 high. The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the Bay Area last month was $377,750, up 1.5 percent from May but down 7.9 percent from $410,000 in June 2010. Last month’s median was the highest since it was $380,000 last November.

MP: These reports are somewhat mixed and not completely positive, and the reporting company DQNews.com says that "Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions."  But the fact that home sales in Southern California and the S.F. Bay Area are at 12-month highs and June median prices are the highest for 2011 in both markets suggests that there are some modest improvements taking place in California, and there even might be a glimmer of hope for the nation's real estate market to recover.