Home prices, sales jump in January

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – The median price of a home in San Diego County rose by 6.9 percent in January, compared with the same month a year ago, while the number of homes sold went up by 75.1 percent, a real estate information service announced Tuesday.

According to CoreLogic, the median price of a San Diego County home was $462,750 last month, up from $433,000 in January 2015. A total of 2,370 homes were sold in the county, up from 2,254 during the same month the previous year.

A total of 14,619 new and resale houses and condos changed hands in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month, according to CoreLogic.

That was down 30.8 percent from 21,118 in December and up 7.3 percent from 13,627 in January 2015. The median price of a Southern California home was $432,250 in January, down 1.8 percent from $440,000 in December and up 6.7 percent from $405,000 in January 2015.

"A large seasonal drop in Southern California home sales between December and January is normal, and this year’s nearly 31 percent decline was only slightly higher than the average drop-off in activity between those two months historically,” said Andrew LePage, a research analyst for CoreLogic.

"January sales reflect deals that, in many cases, began during the November- December holidays, but then closed in January. Some people prefer not to buy and sell during the holidays or in the middle of winter, so January and February tend to be relatively weak months for closings and, as such, they’re not especially predictive of what’s to come for the rest of the year.”