Home sale prices hit a record high across Southern California in April, and the number of homes sold also rose.
The median sales price for the six-county region clocked in at $655,000 last month, according to the Los Angeles Times. That amount was a record, and was $25,000 more than March closings. Additionally,, there were 25,857 homes purchased last month.
The increase year-over-year in both categories was also stark, reflecting current demand and more notably, pandemic-enforced closures that slammed the brakes on activity.
Pricing has been on a steady upward trajectory since last summer when sales began to pick back up. April was the ninth straight month of a double-digit sales price increase, according to the report.
San Bernardino County saw the most significant year-over-year increase in pricing last month among the six counties. But at $436,500, the median sales price also made San Bernardino the most affordable county in the region.
Low mortgage rates, demand from young homebuyers, and overall demand for more space are driving the market throughout Southern California, the data showed.
Meanwhile, L.A. County’s median sales price hit $750,000, a 19 percent increase from April 2020. And there were roughly twice as many sales in April, compared to the same time in 2020.
A separate report from Douglas Elliman this month showed a big difference between the number of homes hitting the markiet and the number of homes sold countywide. In April, 5,800 homes sold but just 3,300 new listings appeared.
Competition is fierce enough that sellers regularly have to bid above asking to close a deal. More than half of homes that sold in L.A. County in March went for more than their asking price.
[LAT] — Dennis Lynch