Southern California home prices, sales rising

Southern California home prices rose to a 20-month high in May, buoyed by sales in expensive coastal areas, according to a survey by research firm DataQuick.

The median price for new and existing homes sold in a six-county region reached $295,000 in May, up 5.4 percent from $280,000 a year ago and up 1.7 percent from $290,00 in April, the San Diego-based company said.

May?s median price was highest since $295,000 in September 2010 and was the second straight month of on-year gains, following 13 months of year-on-year falls.

The better numbers are a result of higher demand, a significant drop in the share of transactions that are foreclosed properties and a greater portion of sales are occurring in the higher-cost coastal markets, the study said. Last month, sales in San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura counties represented about 70 percent of all activity, up from 67.6 percent a year ago.

The number of Southern California homes surged nearly 21 percent from last year to 22,192, with gains the strongest in homes priced above $300,000.

The number of homes sold in May for less than $200,000 rose 7 percent from a year earlier, while the number that sold for $200,000 to $400,000 increased 18.9 percent, DataQuick said. Sales between $300,000 and $800,000 jumped 23.1 percent, and sales over $800,000 rose 11.8 percent.

"The market is being slowly nursed back to health by low interest rates, a modestly improved economy and, we suspect, a widening sense that the housing sector is at or near bottom. There's still plenty of uncertainty swirling around out there," DataQuick President John Walsh said in the report.

May?s median price was still nearly 42 percent below its peak of $505,000 in the middle of 2007, though it was 19 percent higher than the bottom of $247,000 in April 2009.

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