Valley home sales increase in April

Source: The Business Journal

Home sales shot up throughout the San Joaquin Valley in April although not enough to reach last year's levels. According to a new report from the California Association of Realtors, home sales increased 21 percent in Fresno County during the month but dropped 2.7 percent compared to April 2013. The price of a median home in Fresno County stood at $192,880 in April, down 4.6 percent from $202,100 but up 10.9 percent from $173,860 a year ago. Sales in Tulare County climbed 11.7 percent in Tulare County during the month but fell 8.1 percent in the year-over-year comparison. The county's median home price rose 4.3 percent in April to $172,500 over March's price of $165,380. That's also 23.6 percent over $139,520 a year ago. Madera County saw its home sales jump 31.8 percent in April, although the count was still 3.3 percent under April 2013's figures. Home prices in the county stood at $182,500 in the month, down 3.9 percent from $190,000 in March but up 7.4 percent over $170,000 a year ago. Kings County had a little less luck with sales dropping 12.7 percent in April but still surpassing last year's numbers by 4.5 percent. The county's median home price fell 7.2 percent, going from $179,230 in March to $166,250 in April. However, that's up 5.8 percent from last year when the average price stood at $157,140. Fresno County's unsold inventory index, or number of months to deplete the supply of homes at the current sales rate, stood at 4.3 months in April, down from 5.5 months in March but up from 3 months a year ago. Tulare County's index dropped to 4.3 months compared to 4.7 months in March but picked up from 3.1 months in April 2013. Kings County's inventory stood at 3.7 months in April, up from 3.3 months in March and 3.5 months a year ago. Madera County's home supply of 3.3 months was down from 4.3 months in March but remained flat from last year. Statewide, home sales totaled 394,070 units in April, up 7.4 percent from 367,020 in March but down 7 percent from 423,690 in April 2013. "With home prices increasing by double digits in 2013, many investors have decided to leave the market, which is adversely affecting home sales as a whole," said C.A.R. President Kevin Brown, in a release. "While the number of homes sold continued to decline from a year ago, the better-than normal sales activities in April is encouraging and could be an indication that we will see further improvement in the housing market in the next few months."

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