SoCal's July Home Sales Weren't Too Much Worse Than Last Year's

How was your July? If you're anything like SoCal home sales (or the US Congress), it was pretty dismal. Real estate number crunchers DataQuick have released their numbers for the month and both home sales and prices were down over last year and over last month. According to a press release, overall sales in LA, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino, and Orange counties were down 4.5 percent from July 2010 and down 11.9 percent from June 2011 (to 18,090). DQ's found that sale numbers usually fall off from June to July, on average by 4.8 percent, but this is also the worst July for sales in four years, according to the LA Times. Meanwhile, median price was down 4.1 percent from July 2010 and 0.7 percent from June 2011 (to $283,000). President John Walsh says "The latest sales figures look a bit worse than they really are, given this July was a fairly short month, but they still suggest some potential home buyers got spooked." He adds "If there's a shred of good news in the data it's that last month's sales weren't much worse than a year earlier."
· Southland Housing Market's Vital Signs Remain Weak [DataQuick]
· July home sales in Southern California fall 4.5% from a year earlier [LAT]