Pending home sales results varied across California in September, decreasing statewide and in Southern California, but increasing in the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay Area, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ (C.A.R.). All regions recorded year-over-year improvements, though.
Making sense of the story
- Statewide pending home sales decreased in September, with the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) decreasing 1.5 percent from a revised 112.4 in August to 110.8 in September, based on signed contracts. The month-to-month decline was better than the average August- to-September loss of 3.4 percent observed in the last seven years.
- On an annual basis, statewide pending home sales were up 10.9 percent from the revised 99.9 index recorded in September 2014. Pending sales have been increasing on a year-over-year basis since September 2014 and have seen double-digit increases for eight straight months.
- At the regional level, pending sales were higher on a year-over-year basis in all areas, with Southern California and Central Valley both increasing by more than 10 percent over September a year ago.
- The share of equity sales – or non-distressed property sales – reached its highest level since the fall of 2007. Short sales continued to decline, while REO sales inched up slightly from August. Equity sales now make up 94.1 percent of all sales, up from 91.3 percent a year ago.
- Conversely, the combined share of all distressed property sales (REOs and short sales) fell in September to 5.9 percent of total sales, down from 8.7 percent a year ago.
- Twenty-one of the 44 counties that C.A.R. reports showed month-to-month decreases in their share of distressed sales, with Mendocino having the smallest share of distressed sales at 0 percent, followed by San Mateo (1 percent), San Francisco (1.3 percent), and Santa Clara (1.3 percent).
- Pending home sales in Southern California decreased to 85.9 in September, down 8.9 percent from 94.3 in August but up 10.2 percent from an index of 78 a year ago.
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