After years of low inventory, more houses are suddenly being put on the market in the Bay Area. Scott Budman reports.
Bay Area home prices increased in February, following a statewide trend, according to a new report by the California Association of Realtors.
The median price of an existing single-family home in the Bay Area in February was $1.25 million, up from $1.1 million the previous month, and higher than the $1.02 million price of one year ago.
Statewide, the median price of an existing single-family home last month was $806,490, up from $789,480 in January, and an increase from $735,300 a year earlier.
The state's highest median home price in February was San Mateo County's $1.92 million.
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February's statewide sales pace was 12.8% higher from the 257,040 homes sold in January and up 1.3% from a year ago, when a revised 286,290 homes were sold on an annualized basis.
The monthly sales increase was the second straight month of double-digit gains for California. It was also the second consecutive month of year-over-year gains, but the improvement was mild.
While it is likely that sales will stay below this level in the first quarter of 2024, statewide home sales on a year-to-date basis remained positive with an increase of 3.4%, suggesting a better spring home purchasing season than last year, according to CAR.
"Housing supply conditions in California continued to improve in February with new active listings rising more than 10% for the second straight month," CAR President Melanie Barker said. "This is great news for buyers who have been competing for a dearth of homes for sale, and the momentum will hopefully build further as we enter the spring home buying season."
Click here to see the full report.
