SoCal Real Estate Prices Tumble
May 19, 2009 by Mark Ellis
Filed under Business
The median price of a home in Southern California is $247,000, a staggering 36 percent drop from last April, when the median price was $385,000. Foreclosures have resulted for more than half of all sales, with 54 percent of all previously owned and resold properties the product of foreclosure.
Sales, on the other hand, have risen 31 percent from last year, which analysts have attributed to a decline in median price that does not accurately reflect the decline in value of the homes. Foreclosure discounts have pushed home prices beneath the actual value of the homes themselves and these properties are the fastest to sell.
Absentee buyers, a group which mainly includes investors, account for about 19 percent of Southern California real estate transactions in April. The situation in Southern California is ideal for those who can afford to purchase a property and sit on it until the market recovers and the homes regain their value.
Sign of the Time (Image: Flickr)
