For the first time since August 2007, California's median sales price for existing homes posted a year-over-year gain in November, climbing 5.8 percent above the same time in 2008, the California Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.
November's median statewide price of $304,520 was nearly $60,000 higher than the lowest point of the housing downturn early this year.
Sacramento County's November median was $188,480, up 2 percent from $184,760 in November 2008, CAR reported. Median is that price point where half the homes sold for more and half for less.
The statewide trade group for real estate agents counted a 4.5-month inventory of homes for sale, down from 7.1 months in November 2008. The months of inventory category reflects the time it would take to sell all homes at the current sales pace.
Houses also spent less time on the market in November than last year. The median number of days to sell a single-family home in November was 33 days, compared with 44 days last year, CAR said.
Fixed-rate mortgages statewide averaged 4.88 percent in November, compared with 6.09 percent in November 2008.
--Call The Sacramento Bee's Jim Wasserman, (916) 321-1102 or email him at [email protected]. Read his blog on real estate, Home Front, at www.sacbee.com/blogs.