The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California hit a new record during the fourth quarter of 2003, rising 17.9 percent to $391,680, C.A.R. reported last Thursday. For the year as a whole, the median price of an existing, single-family detached home was a new annual record at $372,720, a 17.9 percent increase compared to 2002. Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California amounted to 633,650 for the fourth quarter of 2003 at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, a 12.1 percent increase from 565,050 in the fourth quarter of 2002. Sales for all of 2003 increased 5.1 percent to 601,770 compared to 2002, when sales were 572,550.
"Sales in the fourth quarter were unseasonably strong last year," said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. "It's a testament to the role lower interest rates played in the real estate market, and the expectation that they will rise in 2004. The median price of a home also surged in the fourth quarter, reaching record highs in every region in the state."
C.A.R.'s Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes for the fourth quarter of 2003 was 1.98 months, compared to a revised 2.5 months for the same period a year ago. The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate. Thirty-year fixed mortgage interest rates averaged 5.92 percent during the fourth quarter of 2003, down from 6.07 percent in the fourth quarter of 2002, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. Adjustable mortgage interest rates averaged 3.75 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003, down from 4.18 percent in the fourth quarter of 2002. The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 27 days in the fourth quarter of 2003, compared to a revised 27 days for the same period a year prior.