California Home Sales: More Indicators of Market Distress

La Jolla, CA (DQNews.com) -- An estimated 34,087 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was down 3.7% from 35,404 in September, and up 4.3%from 32,669 for October 2010. California sales for the month of October have varied from a low of 25,832 in 2007 to a high of 70,152 in 2003, while the average is 43,528. DataQuick's statistics go back to 1988.

The median price paid for a home last month was $240,000, down 3.6% from $249,000 in September, and down 6.3% from $256,000 for October a year ago. The median has decreased on a year-over-year basis for the last thirteen months. The bottom of the current cycle was $221,000 in April 2009, while the peak was at $484,000 in early 2007.

Distressed property sales -- the combination of foreclosure resales and "short sales" -- continued to make up more than half of California's resale market. Of the existing homes sold last month, 34.1% were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That was up from 33.8% in September but down from 36.7% in October a year ago. The all-time high was in February 2009 at 58.5%.

Distressed property sales continued to make up more than half of California's resale market.

Short sales -- transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property -- made up an estimated 19.5% of resales last month. That was up from 18.6% in September and 18.2% a year earlier. Two years ago short sales made up an estimated 15.9% of the resale market.

The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $924, the lowest since early 1999. That was down from $964 in September, and down from $1,005 in October 2010. Adjusted for inflation, last month's mortgage payment was the lowest on record. It was 58.8% below the spring 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 66.6% below the current cycle's peak in June 2006.

DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.

Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions. Foreclosure activity is off its peak reached in recent years but remains far above normal. Financing with multiple mortgages is low, down payment sizes are stable, and cash and non-owner occupied buying remains high, DataQuick reported.

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