Home prices in Orange County hit a new record in March, though sales volumes continued to decline.
The median price of a home sold in OC was $623,000 in March, up 10% from a year earlier, according to La Jolla-based market tracker DataQuick Information Systems, a unit of Canada’s MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates.
The March result is up 1% from a month ago, but the $6,000 increase was enough to topple the county’s previous record high of $621,000, set in December.
The number of homes sold in the county continued to slow in March, dropping 22% from a year ago. A total of 3,910 homes were sold in OC last month.
That’s the biggest yearly drop in more than two years. March sales were up 46% from a seasonal decline in February.
Statewide trends mirrored OC results.
The median price paid for a home in Southern California was $501,000 last month, the first time the $500,000 mark has been passed.
The March median price was up 4.4% from February and 14% higher than a year ago.
A total of 29,509 new and resale Southland homes were sold last month, up 48% from February and down 17% from a year ago.
OC overtook Ventura County as the most expensive in the region by median price last month. Ventura was at $610,000 last month, an $8,000 drop from February.
The typical monthly mortgage payment paid by Southern California buyers in March was $2,383, up 6% from a month ago and up 17% from a year ago.
