Local home prices on the rise
The median price of a single-family home in RiversideCounty edged up a half-percent last month — the ninth straight month ofincreases throughout the county, the California Association of Realtorsreported today.
The median home price countywide was $245,830 in February, compared to$244,780 in January, according to CAR.
On a year-to-year level, prices were 22.5 percent higher; in February2012, the median price of a single-family dwelling was $200,730, CAR datashowed.
Statewide, the median price was $333,880 last month, compared to$337,360 in January — down 1 percent. There was an increase year-over-year,however, of 24.2 percent; in February 2012, the median price of a single-familyunit in California was $268,810.
The median represents the point at which half of homes sell above aprice, and the other half below it.
According to CAR’s Unsold Inventory Index, the average home inCalifornia is on the market for 34 days before it sells. In Riverside County,it’s 40 days.
Statewide, there’s a 3.6-month supply of unsold homes, according to theCAR index.
“With housing inventory dropping nearly 39 percent from a year ago,supply constraints continued to propel strong gains in the median price, butalso intensified market competition,” said CAR Vice President and ChiefEconomist Leslie Appleton-Young.
“With an imbalance between supply and demand, home buyers have beenfiercely competing with each other,” she said. “More than half of home salesare receiving multiple offers, with homes getting an average of four to fiveoffers, and some even more.”
