Riverside County home prices grow amid coronavirus pandemic

Home prices in Riverside County have shown little impact from the coronavirus pandemic and are poised to tick up in the coming months, according to a study released on Wednesday.

The Zillow Group's analysis found that the county's median sale price in May was $383,068, 3.8% higher than the same month a year ago. A tight market that is seeing homes being snatched up in record time helps explain the trend, researchers said.

"As surprising as it might have seemed at the time, sellers who forged ahead with listing their homes this spring were richly rewarded, when buyers buoyed by record-low mortgage rates flooded their listings with offers," said Zillow economist Jeff Tucker.

According to Zillow, new listings of the most expensive homes in the county were down 20.8% year-over-year and new listings of the most affordable homes were 25.6% below last year's levels. But listings are expected to bounce back in the coming months.

"Now, word is getting out that the housing market is on solid ground, so more listings are belatedly rushing to market, extending the busy spring shopping season well into summer,'' Tucker said.

He noted that first-time home buyers are driving demand for what is a very limited supply.

Nationally, the median home price grew 4.6% in May compared to the year prior, down from 5.3% in April, according to Zillow.

Researchers attributed the slowdown to a change in the types of homes on the market and expect the sale price growth rate to climb back up soon.