LA home prices up nearly 12% from last year

he median price of an existing, single-family home in the Los Angeles metro area was $725,000 in February, up from $700,000 in January and from $649,000 one year ago, the California Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

In the city of Los Angeles, the median price declined from last month, to $773,490 from $800,960, but up from $686,760 a year ago.

The median price in Orange County was $1.26 million, up from $1.195 million in January and $995,000 in February 2021.

Statewide, the average median home price of an existing, single-family house rose to $771,270, up from $765,610 in January and $699,000 in January 2021.

Total sales of existing, single-family houses in California were down 4.5% from January and 8.2% from February 2021, to a total of 424,640 in February. Southern California saw a 9.9% decrease in total house sales over February 2021.

The median number of days it took to sell a California single-family home was nine in February, down from 10 days in February 2021.

“Despite higher mortgage rates, California’s housing market is holding up remarkably strong, with home prices re-accelerating, market competition growing and signs that the listings crunch is thawing,” CAR President Otto Catrina said in a statement. “Prospective buyers are taking advantage of still-low rates before they move higher and getting a jump on competition before the start of the spring home-buying season.”

San Diego County’s median price was $888,000, up from $875,000 the previous month and $765,000 last year. Riverside County’s was $605,030, up from $590,000 the last month and from $519,500 last year.

The leader in home prices continues to be the San Francisco Bay area, where the median price was $1.335 million, with a high of $2.1 million in San Mateo County, $1.9 million in San Francisco, $1.82 million in Santa Clara County and $1.58 million in Marin County.

The stronger-than-expected growth in the statewide median price was attributed partly to a change in the mix of sales toward homes in the million- dollar price range, as sales jumped in higher-priced regions such as the Central Coast and the San Francisco Bay Area, according to CAR.

The cheapest houses in California can be found in Lassen County in the far north with a median price of $239,000.