Economic and market uncertainties weighed on sales in January
Home sales in California fell to their lowest level since April 2008 as many potential homebuyers stayed on the sidelines amid market and economic concerns.
There were 357,730 (SAAR) escrow sales of existing, single-family homes according to California Association of Realtors (CAR), down 3.9% from the revised December figure of 372,260, and down 12.6% from January 2018. It was the ninth consecutive month of declining sales.
"California continued to move toward a more balanced market as we see buyers having greater negotiating power and sellers making concessions to get their homes sold as inventory grows," said C.A.R. President Jared Martin. "While interest rates have dropped down to the lowest point in 10 months, potential buyers are putting their homeownership plans on hold as they wait out further price adjustments."
The statewide median home price declined to $538,690 in January, 3.4% lower than December’s $557,600 but up 2.1% from a revised $527,780 in January 2018.
"While we expected the federal government shutdown during most of January to temporarily interrupt closings because of a delay in loan approvals and income verifications, the impact on January's home sales was minimal," said CAR Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. "The decline in sales was more indicative of demand side issues and was broad and across all price categories and regions of the state. Moreover, growing inventory over the past few months has not translated into more sales."
