The Southern California housing market took a small turn for the better last month. DataQuick today said that June sales went up 11.6 percent compared to May, and home prices were also an improvement. The median price of a home last month was $285,000 compared to $280,000 in May.
This looks less rosy when you compare June home sales to the previous year. Sales last month were down 14 percent from June of 2010, while prices were down 5 percent. Last year’s home prices were inflated, thanks to federal tax credits that made home buying much more attractive.
The president of DataQuick said the June uptick for 2011 doesn’t show us a market turnaround.
“The housing market remains dysfunctional and lopsided,” said John Walsh. “The market mix indicates that a lot or potential buyers are either stuck, for lack of equity, or spooked and are waiting things out.”
Sales of new homes were still very low in June, and that pushed down the median price. DataQuick reports only 1,395 new houses and condo were sold, out of a total of more than 20,532 sales in Southern California.
Home prices in San Diego County last month were better than average for SoCal. The median price was $330,000, on 3,444 sales.
