Report: Valley home sales see improvement in March

Source: The Business Journal

Valley home sales improved in March from the month before but not enough to meet last year's numbers. According to a new report from the California Association of Realtors, home sales in Fresno County were up 10 percent in the month over February, but dropped 9.5 percent from March 2012. The county's median home price stood at $160,510 in March, a 1-percent bump from February's price of $158,950 and a 19.2-percent spike from $134,690 a year ago. Sales in Tulare County were up 27.9 percent in the month, but fell 20.3 percent from last year. Tulare County's median home price of $137,560 marked a 2.8-percent increase from February's $133,870 and a 12.2-percent increase from $122,630 in March 2012. In Madera County, sales were up 64.7 percent in March but down 30 percent from the year before. The county's median home price stood at $136,000 in the month, up 4.6 percent from $130,000 the prior month and 8.8 percent from $125,000 last year. Kings County sales were up 31.7 percent over February but flat when compared to March 2012. The county's median home price dropped 5 percent from $153,750 in February but came up 5 percent from $139,090 last year to end at $146,000. Fresno County's unsold inventory index, or number of months to deplete the supply of homes at the current sales rate, was 3.8 months in March compared to 3.9 months in February and 4.5 months a year ago. Tulare County's index stood at 3.2 months compared to 4 months in both February and March 2012, while Madera County's index was at 3.5 months compared to 5.2 months and 3.7 months, respectively. Kings County saw its index fall to 2.7 months from 3.3 months in February and 3.6 months in March 2012. Statewide, sales were up just slightly in the month to 417,520 but down 4.9 percent from 439,260 in March 2012. California's median home price stood at $378,960, up 13.7 percent from February and 28.2 percent from March 2012. "While home sales were essentially flat from February, sales declined moderately from last year, as an extreme shortage of available homes continued to dictate the market," said C.A.R. President Don Faught, "Statewide inventory dropped 36 percent from last March and was below 3 months for the second time in the past few months. Supply conditions are particularly tight in the lower-priced segment of the market, as inventory for homes priced below $300K plunged more than 50 percent from the previous year."

URL to original article: http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/news/real-estate/5687-report-valley-home-sales-see-improvement-in-march

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