…home prices jumped 7.5% from a year earlier, reinforcing new poll results showing widespread concern about the state’s housing affordability.
Across the six-county region, the median price increased to $500,000 from $465,000 a year earlier, though down slightly from $502,000 in July, according to a report Tuesday from data firm CoreLogic.
In Los Angeles County, the median price surged 9.4% to a record $580,000. The previous record of $575,000 was set in July.
It was the best August for home sales since 2006. Total sales in Southern California were up 3.2% year over year and surged 13.3% from a sluggish July, CoreLogic said.
The August home price for the six-county region was just below the all-time high of $505,000 reached in 2007 at the height of the housing bubble. The market began collapsing soon thereafter.
But it’s been rebounding for the last six years, fueled by a slowly improving economy, historically low mortgage rates and a shortage of homes for sale.
Home prices in the region can’t keep rising 7% a year and will probably moderate to between 3% and 5% annually for the foreseeable future, said Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
Los Angeles County is short about 100,000 housing units right now and needs to be adding between 30,000 and 35,000 a year to keep up with growing demand, Green said. But only about 25,000 units are being built annually, meaning the county is falling further behind, he said.
Source: Southern California home prices jump again. Lots of residents worry about affordability – LA Times
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