Southern California’s housing market gained momentum in July, with prices holding steady at all-time highs and sales hitting the second-highest level of the past two years.
Lower mortgage rates and an increased number of homes for sale boosted transactions, although homes now are taking longer to sell due to increased competition among homeowners.
“The market’s picked back up,” said Jordan Levine, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors. “(Mortgage) rates started to go down in June and continued to go down into July. … I think that the market just continues to be pretty sensitive to these changes in rates. I would say, almost even hypersensitive.”
The median price of a Southern California home — or the price at the midpoint of all sales — was up nearly 6% to $775,000, matching the record high reached in April and June, real estate data firm CoreLogic reported Wednesday, Sept. 4.
The region has seen year-over-year price gains for 13 straight months.
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Home sales, meanwhile, rose almost 14% to 17,462 transactions in July, CoreLogic figures show.
During the past two years, just two other months — June 2023 and this past May — have seen sales rise above 17,000 transactions.
Despite the gains, 2024 is shaping up as the third-slowest year on record, with 105,000 homes changing hands through July, CoreLogic figures show. Just two other years — 2008 and 2023 — had fewer sales seven months in.
July’s sales tally — the fourth-lowest in records dating back to the late 1980s — remains 65% below the average for that month.
Falling mortgage rates are helping to revive the market, however. Average rates have dropped almost a full percentage point over the past four months, boosting the buying power for home shoppers.
A buyer who could afford a $770,000, median-priced home in May (when rates averaged 7.2%), now can afford to buy an $841,000 home with the same…
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