The number of homes sold in March 2016 in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano and Sonoma counties totaled 6,754. Data from CoreLogic reveals this to be a 37 percent increase from February, but a 2.9 decrease year-over-year.
“Last month the housing market experienced a normal, seasonal spike from February in the number of recorded transactions, which reflects more buyers and sellers entering the market as the holidays and winter faded,” said Andrew LePage, research analyst with CoreLogic.
This past March saw the second lowest total sales since 2009, placing second after March 2014. The highest month CoreLogic has tallied since gathering data in 1988 is 12,645, which occurred in March 2004. The lowest month saw only 4,898 sales in 2008.
The average number of homes sold in March for these regions is 8,593.
The median price for homes sold was $643,250. This number presents a 4.6 percent increase from February and a 1.4 percent increase year over year. The report stated that a “strong gain in the median sale price between February and March in the San Francisco Bay Area is normal.”
The median sale price has risen consistently for four years, but the 1.4 percent increase remains the smallest since the price began rising four years ago. The peak median sale price of $665,000 was seen in June and July of 2007.
CoreLogic reports that absentee buyers (mostly investors) purchased 19.7 percent of all homes sold in March. The was a 1.4 percent decrease from February, and only a slight decrease from March 2015.
Buyers purchasing homes with cash totaled 24 percent of the March numbers, which showed only a slight decrease from February 2016 and March 2015.
It is estimated that 2.2 percent of the total sales in March were short sales.
Also, FHA loans made up 10.2 percent of home purchase loans in the Bay Area. The report stated that FHA loans were used for between one our of every four to one out of every five home purchase loans. Solano County had the highest FHA share with 26.3 percent.
