bizjournals: It was boom; now it's bust for home sales in the West

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The National Association of Realtors says the West sawa 16.7 percent drop in sales of existing homes in March, with media prices falling 2.9 perceng to $330,600. Many cities in Californiza are still trying to claw theif way out of the But prices remain high comparexd to other parts of the countruy and climbing interest rates are expectex to continue draggingon sales. Home sales decreased 20.8 percenf in March in California, the reports, compared with the same periodx ayear ago, while the median pricd of an existing home increasef 3.2 percent. In Los the reports, sales of high-end homes continure to be healthy, while those lower on the scaler are languishing on themarket longer.
The Timese reports that sales fell in the Los Angelesregion 4.6 percenyt in March, compared to the same perioe last year. Median prices, though, rose 2.6 percentf to $571,110. The reporte builders in the area that includesdSan Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvaler took out permits to build 198 housex in March, down from February, but 20.7 percenyt more than in March 2006. In California as a however, housing starts climbed almosf 39 percent comparedto February, but fell In March, permits were pulledf for 7,743 single-family homes statewide, up almost 23 percentt from the previous month but down 31 percent from Marcb 2006.
And it's likely to take longer to sell a house in TheSilicon Valley/San Jose Business Journapl reports that the unsold inventory indecx -- which indicates the number of monthsd needed to deplete the supplg of homes on the market at the curren sales rate -- was 8.7 months in March, almost doublr the 4.7 months for the same period a year ago. The media n price of a home in Santa Clara County was up 9.2 percent from the year-ago periodr and up 5.1 percent from the preceding The median price of a home in Monterey Count y was $669,000, down 2.3 percent from March last year and up 1.8 perceng from February. The median price in Santza Cruz Countywas $751,000, up 1.
5 percenr from last year and up 4.3 percent from the precedingf month. Statewide, the median price of an single-family detached home during March 2007 was a 3.2 percent increase over the revise $562,130 median for March 2006. The mediamn number of days it took to sella single-family home was 56.2 days in Marc 2007, compared with 44.5 days for the same period a year ago. "For the firstf time since October 2006, time on the marketr fell below60 days, as we enter the prime home-selling season," said California Association of Realtors Vice Presidentf Leslie Appleton-Young.
"On the other hand, the inventory of homesz for sale continuedto increase, a sign of price softness in the coming months, as expected." If there's a brightg spot in the Southwest, it may be the valley of the sun. Phoenic appears to be at least holdingits own. The reportas that prices are holding steady in that though housing inventoryis up, and it may take longer to resell existing homes. Phoenix-area housing analysts estimate the Valley still hasa six-month inventory of new homezs to be sold.
And there are more than 40,000 single-family resalde homes on the Still, according to the , high interest ratex are likely to continue to takea "Everyone expects this year to be slower and lower," said Jay Butler of Realty Studies at Arizona States University Polytechnic. Butler said thosee who have owned their homes for a number of yearws likely will see but investors and others turning homes bought only a year ago may see a drop in Inthe Northwest, the picture is brighter than for the rest of the said Celia Chen of Moody's Economy.com, and a report in the backsw her up.
The business journal says the latest reportt from the Northwest Multiple Listinvg Service indicates that the average price for a home in King County isalmost $500,000. In March, the average priced of a home sold in King Countywas $499,470. A mont earlier, the average sale price was $462,575. Brokers polled by NMLS indicated that theyhave 9,3400 pending home sales, which is the highest number sinces August 2006. "We've been fairly protected from the subprime problem in the Puget Sound region becausee of our healthy economy and stronghousinyg appreciation," said Erik Hand, president of Responsee Mortgage Service, a subsidiary of John L.
Scott Real