Southern California Median Home Price Jumped +23.5% in January

Southern California's housing market started 2013 with the highest January home sales in six years as sales to investors and cash buyers hovered near record levels and move-up activity remained relatively brisk. The median price paid for a Southland home dipped slightly from December, as it normally does at this time of year, but jumped 23.5 percent above the year-ago level, reports DQ News.

The median price paid for a home in the six-county Southland was $321,000 last month, down 0.6 percent from $323,000 in December and up 23.5 percent from $260,000 in January 2012. The December 2012 median was the highest for any month since the median was $330,000 in August 2008. The Southland median has increased year-over-year for ten consecutive months.


The move-up market continued to post sizeable sales gains last month. January sales between $300,000 and $800,000 – a range that would include many first-time move-up buyers – shot up 49.6 percent year-over-year. Sales over $500,000 jumped 74.0 percent from one year earlier, while sales over $800,000 rose 84.2 percent compared with January 2012.

Last month 24.7 percent of all Southland home sales were for $500,000 or more, compared with 26.1 percent in December (the highest level since July 2008), and 16.4 percent in January 2012.