The California Association of Realtors (CAR) released their March report covering California existing home sales and median prices. The statewide median price rose over the year by 4.0% to $483,020 and was the strongest gain in six months. Compared with February, the median price moved higher by 8.9%, reversing a two month decline.

Sales of single-family homes rose by 5.7% over the year in March to 415,220 units sold (annualized rate, adjusted for seasonality). The spring home buying season is underway but sales growth during the coming months will be tied to the regions in California where affordability is less of a problem (inland areas) and where inventory is more abundant. In the San Francisco bay area, for example, where year-over-year sales were down by 8.1% in March, the inventory of homes for sale was just 2.6%. In contrast, with a 4.0 month supply, sales growth in the Los Angeles metro area increased by 1.7%, and in the Inland Empire, where there was a 4.5 month supply, sales increased by 5.3% over the year in March. The lack of inventory and competition for what is available in many of California’s coastal employment centers continues to exert strong upward pressure on prices.

Mortgage interest rates were basically flat in March, with the 30-year, fixed-mortgage interest rate averaging 3.69%, compared with 3.66% in February and 3.77% in March 2015. *

*Source: LAEDC / Kimberly Ritter 4/21/16