California Real Estate Recovery Continues in May

Highlights from the DQNews report on May California home sales:

1.  In May, 40,965 houses and condos were sold statewide, which was an increase of 9.3 percent from April (28,111), and up 4.9 percent from the 37,967 houses sold in May 2009 (see chart).

2. The median price for a California home sold in May was $278,000, up 9 percent from $255,000 in April and up 20.9 percent from $230,000 last May (see chart).

3. The year-over-year increase was the seventh in a row (starting in November 2009, which is likely the bottom for home prices in CA), following 27 months of year-over-year declines.

4. Of the existing homes sold in May, 35.5 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year, down from 38.1 percent in April and down from 50.2 percent a year ago (see chart). The last time foreclosure resales were as low was in March 2008, 27 months ago. 

MP: This report seems to have all of the key ingredients of a real estate market in full recovery mode: 1) increasing unit sales, 2) increasing median home prices for seven consecutive months, and 3) declining foreclosed homes as a share of sales (27-month low).