A report by the California Association of Realtors (CAR) showed January’s sales figures were down 3.9 percent from the revised 372,260 level in December and down 12.6 percent from home sales in January 2018 of 409,520. January marked the ninth consecutive month of decline and the sixth month in a row that sales were below 400,000, dipping to the lowest level since April 2008.
“California continued to move toward a more balanced market as we see buyers having greater negotiating power and sellers making concessions to get their homes sold as inventory grows,” said C.A.R. President Jared Martin. “While interest rates have dropped down to the lowest point in 10 months, potential buyers are putting their homeownership plans on hold as they wait out further price adjustments.”
The statewide median home price declined to $538,690 in January. The January statewide median price was down 3.4 percent from $557,600 in December and up 2.1 percent from a revised $527,780 in January 2018.
On a regionwide, non-seasonally adjusted basis, sales dropped double-digits on a year-over-year basis in the Los Angeles Metro Area, Central Coast, Central Valley and Inland Empire regions, while home sales in the San Francisco Bay Area fell 5.8 percent from a year ago.
The median number of days it took to sell a California single-family home rose from 27 days in January 2018 to 37 days in January 2019.