Southern California's median home price slipped slightly in April, new figures show, but the volume of home sales tells a tale of two housing markets.
In distressed areas such as the Inland Empire, homes are selling at a quickening pace, as buyers snap up foreclosed properties at cut-rate prices. But in more expensive areas such as Pacific Palisades and Corona del Mar, activity is still largely frozen. Many well-heeled homeowners who aren't under financial pressure to sell are keeping their properties off the market or holding out for prices that buyers are either unable or unwilling to pay.
"Until those people are forced to sell, they're not going to," said Richard Green, director of USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate. "That might change if lots of high-income people lose their jobs."
Southern California's median home price was $247,000 in April, down from $250,000 in the first three months of the year, San Diego-based MDA DataQuick reported Tuesday.
The median price -- the point at which half the homes sell for more and half sell for less -- will rise if a greater number of pricier homes sell.
Manhattan Beach real estate agent Ed Kaminsky said he was beginning to see some signs of a thaw. This month, he sold a four-bedroom house in that coastal community for $2.6 million -- $400,000 less than the seller paid for it in 2006. The owner had listed the house for sale at $3.45 million in 2007, but pulled it from the market at that price when he got no takers. Until recently, sellers in upscale communities swore they were immune to the housing market downturn, Kaminsky said.
"When it first started, they said it's just the low end. Everyone said, 'We're different.' We're not," Kaminsky said.
Still, he said many sellers in high-end ZIP Codes still believe their properties can command what they did at the top of the market. Buyers think otherwise. Sales in Manhattan Beach were down 12% in April from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, inland communities including Lancaster, Perris and Indio posted record or near-record high sales totals in April, DataQuick reported. Sales tripled in a Palmdale ZIP Code where the median price dropped 57% to $53,000.
April's median home price for six Southern California counties was 51% below its 2007 peak. The low prices continued to attract buyers. The total of 20,514 homes sold last month was up 5.2% from March and up 31.4% from a year earlier, DataQuick reported.
