San Francisco Home Sales Edge Up

SAN FRANCISCO (DQNews) -- Home sales in the Bay Area edged up in September as buyers scrambled to take advantage of low mortgage interest rates as well as a tax credit due to expire at the end of November. The median sale price rose slightly from August, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 7,879 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine- county Bay Area last month. That was up 4.8 percent from 7,518 in August and up 8.4 percent from 7,271 in September 2008, according to MDA DataQuick. The San Diego firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

The month-to-month gain was atypical: sales normally decline around 11 percent from August to September. In DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988, September sales have increased three other times, in 1988, 1992 and 2008. September sales have averaged 8,835, ranging from 5,014 in 2007 to 13,343 in 2003. Last month's year-over-year sales gain was the 13th in a row.

"This market may be closer to normal than it was a a half year ago, but it's still out of kilter, fueled in large part by incentives and the processing of distressed properties. The sales mix is still lopsided, tilting toward the low end, and lending institutions are only making really safe mortgage loans. For those who can buy, there are some very attractive opportunities. But it still looks like a lot of normal supply-and-demand activity has been put on hold until the economy comes back," said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president.