The California Association of Realtors reports that state home sales decreased 20.8 percent in March, compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home increased 3.2 percent. “The year-to-year decline in March (sales) was larger than in recent months in part because sales in March 2006 were the strongest in all of last year,” said CAR President Colleen Badagliacco.
California’s median house price in March of this year was $580,090, a 3.2 percent increase over the $562,130 median for March 2006. However, prices have begun to tapper. California is no longer seeing the 21.3 percent jump in median house prices that it saw between 2003 and 2004.
In fact, Sacramento’s median house price at $362,660 is down 4.3 percent from last year.
The median price for a home in Yuba City is $313,500, in Colusa $309,900 and in Marysville $249,950. Local median home prices are a 10 to 15 percent decrease from last year, according to Yuba City real estate agent Brad Burris.
However, the Bay Area remains an anomaly. The median price paid for a house in the Bay Area was $639,000 in March, a 3.1 percent increase from last year. In the city of San Francisco, the median price of a single-family home was at $893,825 in March, which is a 4.8 percent increase from March of last year at $852,500.
“Some areas are going up, and others are going down,” said Burris. “In August ’05, the market started changing for various reasons. Fuel, terrorism, and the fact that we over built made the market decrease to what it is now.
In March, 39,800 new and resale houses and condos in California were sold, indicating that fewer houses are being bought this year, down 31 percent from March of last year, and that prices are going down as a result. During down markets, buyers may be able to get a better price compared to when home sales are at a high.
“Right now we are going through a declining period,” said Burris. “There has been a decrease of 37 percent of properties sold in the area.”
The median house price from homes within the United States as a whole has not changed, remaining at $221,600. Nonetheless, according to an April 2 Gallup Poll, 58 percent of Americans say that now is a good time to buy a house.
Generally, the market prices of homes have increased over time. They might decrease every so often but not as much as they increase.
By the time Yuba College students graduate from a 4-year college, the market prices will have changed again.
“In 2010, it is expected that there will be a national housing shortage,” said Burris. “What this will do to the housing market, we are not sure yet.
However, earned diplomas and better jobs may help students afford a better homes and finances.
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