LOS ANGELES—The most recent housing market report shows home prices rising across Southern California, with a nearly 12 percent increase in Los Angeles County from last year, 26.6 percent in Orange County, and 16 percent in San Diego County.
The median price of an existing, single-family home in the Los Angeles metro area was $725,000 in February, up from $700,000 in January and from $649,000 one year ago, the California Association of Realtors reported on March 15.
In the City of Los Angeles, the median price declined from last month’s $800,960 to $773,490, but up from $686,760 a year ago.
In Orange County, the median price was $1.26 million, up from $1.195 million this January and $995,000 in February 2021.
In San Diego County, the median price of an existing, single-family home was $888,000 this February, up from $875,000 in January and from $765,000 one year ago, the California Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.
Riverside County’s was $605,030, up from $590,000 the last month and from $519,500 last year.
Statewide, the average median home price of an existing, single-family house rose to $771,270, up from $765,610 in January 2022 and $699,000 in January 2021.
Total sales of existing, single-family houses in California were down 4.5 percent from this January and 8.2 percent from February 2021, to a total of 424,640 last month. Southern California saw a 9.9 percent decrease in total house sales over February 2021.
The median number of days it took to sell a California single-family home was nine this February, down from 10 days in February 2021.
“Despite higher mortgage rates, California’s housing market is holding up remarkably strong, with home prices re-accelerating, market competition growing and signs that the listings crunch is thawing,” California Association of Realtors President Otto Catrina said in a statement. “Prospective buyers are taking advantage of still-low rates before they move higher and getting a jump on competition before the start of the spring home-buying season.”
The leader in home prices continues to be the San Francisco Bay area, where the median price was $1.335 million, with a high of $2.1 million in San Mateo County, $1.9 million in San Francisco, $1.82 million in Santa Clara County and $1.58 million in Marin County.
The stronger-than-expected growth in the statewide median price was attributed partly to a change in the mix of sales toward homes in the million-dollar price range, as sales jumped in higher-priced regions such as the Central Coast and the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the realtors’ association.
The cheapest houses in California can be found in Lassen County in the far north with a median price of $239,000.
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