August Home Sales in California

August Home Sales in California up 8.8% from July

According to Dataquick Statistics, an estimated 37,734 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide in August. That was up 8.8 percent from 34,695 in July, and up 10.2 percent from 34,239 for August 2010. California sales for the month of August have varied from a low of 29,764 in 1992 to a high of 73,285 in 2005, while the average is 48,344.

The median price paid for a California home in August was $249,000, down 1.2 percent from $252,000 in July, and down 4.2 percent from $260,000 for August a year ago. The bottom of the current cycle was $221,000 in April 2009, while the peak was $484,000 in early 2007.

Distressed property sales continued to make up more than half of California's resale market last month. Of the existing homes sold last month, 34.6 percent were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. That was up from a revised 34.5 percent in July and down from 35.6 percent in August a year ago. The all-time high was in February 2009 at 58.5 percent.