Single-family home prices rose by less than 1 percent over 2011 prices. The typical SCV house sold for $367,467 in 2012 versus $364,867 in 2011.
But the fact that the price moved up at all is noteworthy.
“It was the first increase in the annual median price after five consecutive years of declines, including a 22.0 percent plunge in 2008,” according to a statement from the Southland Regional Association of Realtors.
Condominium sellers didn’t fare nearly so well. The median condominium price fell by 8.8 percent in 2012 to $192,158 from $210,675 in 2011. It was the lowest annual mark for condo prices in 10 years.
The best full year in the SCV, price-wise, was 2005, when the typical single-family home sold for $603,492 and the typical condo changed hands for $380,583.
2012 finished with a surge in single-family home prices as December’s median price came in at $403,500, up sharply from November’s median of $360,000 and December 2011’s $340,000.
The median condo traded for $200,000 in December, up from November’s $197,000 but down from $203,800 in December 2011.
Few homes were listed for sale in December – 237 single-families and 83 condos compared to 667 and 294, respectively, in December 2011 – a record-low 0.9 month’s supply in a market where a 5- to 6-month supply is considered healthy.
But it’s not as though nothing was selling in December. More homes closed escrow in the final month of 2012 (247 single-families, 120 condos) than in December 2011 (217 and 105).
Overall, 2012 was better for Realtors as 2,308 single-family homes and 1,026 condos closed escrow – 8.1 percent and 15.5 percent more, respectively, than in 2011.
Have SCV’s Detached Home Prices Bottomed Out?
