Inland Empire Home Sales Surge

Home sales in Riverside and San Bernardino counties jumped again last month as the Inland Empire claimed a record 30.8% share of all home sales in Southern California.

The two counties also saw some of the region’s most substantial year-over-year price increases as the appreciation boom that has been sweeping through more densely populated markets reached the Inland Empire, said analyst John Karevoll of DataQuick Information Systems.

The La Jolla research firm Wednesday announced monthly sales statistics for Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and San Diego counties, a day after releasing results for Los Angeles and Orange counties.

November sales rose 9.2% in San Bernardino County to 3,425 units and 19.7% in Riverside County to 5,093 units compared with the same month a year earlier.

Those sales accounted for more than 30% of the transactions in the six-county region for the first time, Karevoll said. Ten years ago, the Inland Empire accounted for 20.8% of sales in the region.

Prices in the Inland Empire also rose substantially. The median price of a home in Riverside County rose 17.5% to $268,000 from November 2002. In San Bernardino County, the median price rose 20.6% to $211,000.

Sales in San Diego County rose 16.2% to 4,688, while the median price rose 12.6% to $393,000.

“A lot of the appreciation increase in Orange and San Diego counties has kind of played itself out,” Karevoll said, “so those rates of appreciation are coming back down a little bit.”

The median price rose 14.1% in Orange County.

Home sales in the smaller Ventura County market fell 4.5% to 1,303, but the median price rose 17.5% to $403,000. The median home price for all six counties combined rose 16.7% to $336,000, while sales rose 7.9% to 27,628.

Neighborhoods with lower-priced and moderate homes are appreciating faster than higher-end markets because the demand is much deeper and buyers feel a greater sense of urgency to buy before interest rates rise again, said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist of the California Assn. of Realtors. Wealthier buyers are more able to wait, she said.

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Strong November

Southern California’s housing market continued to sizzle in November, with prices of new and existing homes and condos jumping again.

*--* Median Median Homes Homes price price sold sold % 11/02 11/03 % County 11/02 11/03 change (000s) (000s) change Los Angeles 9,098 9,388 +3.2% $281 $339 +20.6% Orange 3,715 3,731 +0.4 383 437 +14.1 Riverside 4,254 5,093 +19.7 228 268 +17.5 San Bernardino 3,136 3,425 +9.2 175 211 +20.6 San Diego 4,034 4,688 +16.2 349 393 +12.6 Ventura 1,364 1,303 -4.5 343 403 +17.5 So. California 25,601 27,628 +7.9 288 336 +16.7

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Source: DataQuick Information Systems