Home sales stall, dropping 18% in Southern California

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Southern California’s housing market hit a big pothole in September, with home sales sinking almost 18 percent from the year before as buyers increasingly grapple with rising mortgage rates, higher prices and deteriorating affordability, Irvine-based housing tracker CoreLogic reported Tuesday, Oct. 30.

It was the biggest percentage drop in transactions in eight years.

Home prices, meanwhile, were up 3.6 percent from September 2017 levels – the smallest year-over-year appreciation rate in 3½ years.

Although local agents say it’s too soon to call it a buyer’s market, a slowdown reported over the past six months appears to be deepening, they said.

“I don’t think it’s time to panic. I don’t think it’s a bloodbath,” said Jordan Levine, a senior economist for the California Association of Realtors, which last week reported similar sales drops in the region. “I definitely think it’s time to look at the market with eyes wide open.”

In all, 17,369 homes changed hands last month in the six-county region, or 3,700 fewer than in September 2017.

Sales drops were more pronounced in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Transactions fell 23.6 percent in Orange County and were off 19.3 percent in L.A. County, CoreLogic figures show.

The Inland Empire, by comparison, had drops of 16.4 percent in San Bernardino County and 10.1 percent in Riverside County – less severe but still in the double digits.

San Diego and Ventura counties both saw sales fall by more than 17 percent.

One reason for the declines: September had one less business day than the same month a year ago. But that only accounts for part of the decrease.

The region had an average of 868 transactions per day last month, down 13.6 percent. That’s the biggest percentage decline in four years.

Prices remain up on a year-over-year basis, however.

The median price of a Southern California home, or price at the midpoint of all sales, was $523,000, up $18,000 in a year.

Two counties – Orange and Riverside – saw prices hit their highest level since the Great Recession. Orange County’s median rose 4.2 percent to $740,000 in September, which tied the county’s all-time high reached in May. Riverside County’s median rose 8.1 percent to $389,000, the highest median since August 2007.

Median home prices were up across the board. Prices rose 3.5 percent to $595,000 in L.A. County, 1.5 percent to $330,000 in San Bernardino County, 7.3 percent to $590,000 in Ventura County and 7.5 percent to $575,000 in San Diego County.

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