California home prices dip 1% in May, 1st drop in nearly 2 years
A modest dip in mortgage rates wasn t enough to prevent drops in California home prices and sales To see what s up or down with the sphere my trusty spreadsheet looked at statewide homebuying details from the California Association of Realtors and the average -year mortgage rate from Freddie Mac May s results established that cheaper money was no panacea for the stalled housing industry The -year mortgage rate averaged that month down from in May So a California house hunter s estimated house payment the monthly check for a median-priced home at the -year rate has fallen in a year to Still that burden tripled in years That incredible lack of affordability nudged California prices lower The median was off since May the first -month drop in prices since June By the way this year-over-year price benchmark has fallen in of the months in the past years Still May s median is just off its all-time high Is it really a surprise that May s statewide sales were down year-over-year It was the biggest drop in months Additionally it appears that homeowners rushed to sell as May s months of supply represents a increase from a year ago But their homes are sitting unsold longer The number of days on the field has risen by five to since May The best news for housing though comes from regime employment content California s job realm is merely sluggish May s job advance was a modest for the year as unemployment increased slightly to Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group He can be reached at jlansner scng com Related Articles Will Democrats big changes to landmark California environmental law lower housing prices Chevron moves to shrink East Bay office space through sublease gambit State bill pausing new building codes risks conditions change progress California approves the greater part major environmental law rollback in decades The Bank of Italy tower A standout on San Jose s skyline
