Housing prices set a new record in December, thanks to a rush by homebuilders to sell before 2004 was over.
Orange County’s median hit $551,000 in December, up 18% from a year ago and slightly higher than the previous record of $543,000 reached in May and repeated in August, La Jolla-based market-tracker DataQuick Information Systems said Monday.
The new record doesn’t mean too much, according to John Karevoll, a DataQuick analyst. He said December’s median typically is inflated by hurried selling from homebuilders; new homes generally cost more than comparable resales.
The numbers agree: The median for existing houses was $567,750 in December, down 5.4% from May but up 15.9% from a year ago.
The new-home median price, by comparison, shot through the roof to $770,000, up 30% from a year ago.
Sales continue to lag, though not as dramatically as during summer, Karevoll said. About 10% fewer houses and condos were sold in December, for a total of 4,214, than a year ago.
That compares to a year-over-year drop of 32% in August. The gap has been narrowing, Karevoll said, to 27% in September, 24.6% in October and a negligible 4.6% in November.
Sales have slowed as a result of buyers getting sticker shock, according to homebuilders.
The analyst said OC probably is the furthest along in the housing cycle in Southern California. He said prices and sales are still strong, but not record-breaking.
“In spring and summer all bets are off,” Karevoll said. “It’s not an election year. Washington is going to have to do something about the budget deficit.”
