Home prices down, foreclosures up
Median home price higher than a year ago
A month where both the median price of homes sold was up and foreclosures were down has been followed by prices dropping considerably and foreclosures more than tripling.
In September, the median price of a home sold in Porterville during September was $117,000. While that is down from the $140,000 median prices paid in August, it was still much better than the median price paid in September of 2011.
Foreclosures, which dipped below 200 countywide in August, rose to more than 400 in September. Porterville showed 57 foreclosure proceedings begun, compared to just 21 in August.
San Diego-based DataQuick reported that statewide, the new and resale market were both down from August, dropping 16.5% from last month and off 2.7% from a year ago.
A drop in sales between August and September is normal for the season, although last month’s decline was exaggerated because the month started and ended with a weekend and had fewer business days, reported DataQuick, a company that monitors real estate activity.
September sales in California have varied from a low of 24,460 in 2007 to a high of 69,304 in 2003. Last month’s sales were 21.9% below the average of 43,559 sales for all months of September since 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics begin.
In Tulare County, 362 homes were sold in September, with the price of $129,000 up 3.20% over a year ago, but below both the median price for September of 2011 and August of 2012.
Porterville saw 50 homes sold. Lindsay had 12 homes sale at a median price of $69,250, up nearly 30% over a year ago.
Some in the real estate industry had expected foreclosures to go back up after the dip last month. However, the number of foreclosures is still far off the pace set at the height of the recession.
Other foreclosures in the area, according to Realtytrac, were Lindsay with 18, Springville and Terra Bella both with five and Visalia with 157.
The median price paid for a home in California last month was $287,000, up 2.1% from $281,000 in August and up 15.3% from $249,000 in September 2011. Last month’s median was the highest since August 2008, when it was $301,000. September marked the seventh consecutive month in which the state’s median sale price rose year-over-year.
Of the existing homes sold in September, 17.7%were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year.
