Report: Fresno home prices rose in October

Written by Business Journal staff

Median home prices in Fresno rose from September to October of this year, the California Association of Realtors reports.

The median price for a Fresno County home stood at $144,460 in October, compared to $141,770 in September, according to figures released on Tuesday. The rise is encouraging for sellers, however the median price is down from $149,460 recorded in October of 2010.

Fresno homes for sale were spending an average 4.3 months on the market in October, compared to 3.8 months in September. Last year’s figure was unavailable.

By contrast, homes in Sacramento County stayed on the market an average of 2.2 months in both September and October.

The association also reported that California home sales rose .9% from September to October of this year, with 493,240 housing units sold in October. October home sales also were up 8.5% from the 454,740 housing units sold during October of last year.

But in the Bay area and Southern California, many cities saw declines in median home prices.

“Based on preliminary analysis, it appears that the lower conforming loan limits has had a cooling effect on home sales in October, particularly in the higher cost markets across the state such as the San Francisco Bay area and coastal regions of Southern California,” said LeFrancis Arnold, president of the California Association of Realtors.

Low conforming loan limits apparently had minimal impact in most Central Valley counties. At the same time, lower prices and bottom-level interest rates attracted investors and family home buyers to the area.

Madera County saw a rise in median home prices from $125,380 in September to $132,500 in October. The prices were down from $140,000 in October of 2010. In Tulare County, the median price moved slightly upward from $122,940 in September to $123,080 in October. That compares to $123,750 in October of last year.

Kings County sellers were disappointed as median home prices fell slightly from $141,670 in September to $138,180 in October. Both figures were down from $135,000 recorded in October of 2010.

URL to original article: http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/real-estate/12115-report-fresno-home-prices-rose-in-october

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