California’s median home price exceeded $800,000 in July for the fourth straight month and recorded its first year-over-year gain in nine months, according to new data from the California Association of Realtors (CAR).
The statewide median price was $832,340 last month, a slight 0.7% decline from June’s $838,260 and a scant 0.2% uptick from a revised $830,870 one year ago.
But while home prices inched up from the previous year, sales figures sank. During July, closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 269,180, down 3% from June’s total of 277,490 sales and down 9% from the revised 295,770 home sales in July 2022. CAR noted July’s year-over-year activity was the smallest since April 2022 and was the first time in more than a year that sales dropped by less than 10% from a year ago. However, July was also the tenth straight month where sales of existing single-family homes in California remained below the 300,000-unit level.
“Housing supply continued to be tight in California as rates remain well above levels observed in 2020-2021, when homeowners locked in their long-term mortgages,” said CAR Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Jordan Levine. “While home sales have been negatively impacted by the shortage of homes for sale during this year’s homebuying season, home prices continue to stabilize and have provided consumers with some confidence that market conditions are still solid. Interest rates should moderate later this year if inflation eases further, and home sales could see some improvement in the winter season.”
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