by Calculated Risk on 5/15/2013 03:24:00 PM

From DataQuick: Highest Southland April Home Sales Since '06; Median Price Nears 5-Yr High

Southern California homes sold at the fastest pace for an April in seven years amid the release of pent-up demand for move-up homes and high levels of investor purchases. ... A total of 21,415 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 4.1 percent from 20,581 sales in March, and up 9.5 percent from 19,562 sales in April 2012, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.
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Last month foreclosure resales – homes foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 12.4 percent of the Southland resale market. That was down from a revised 13.8 percent the month before and down from 28.8 percent a year earlier. Last month’s figure was the lowest since it was 10.0 percent in August 2007. In the current cycle, foreclosure resales hit a high of 56.7 percent in February 2009.

Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 17.7 percent of Southland resales last month. That was down from an estimated 20.1 percent the month before and 24.3 percent a year earlier.
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Buyers paying with cash accounted for 33.5 percent of last month's home sales, compared with 35.0 percent the month before and 32.2 percent a year earlier.

From DataQuick: Bay Area Median Sale Price Back Over $500,000; Sales Dip Below Year Ago

A total of 7,621 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county Bay Area in April. That was up 5.2 percent from 7,243 the month before, and down 0.6 percent from 7,667 for April a year ago. Sales have fallen year-over-year for three consecutive months, mainly reflecting the constrained inventory of homes for sale.
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Foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 8.5 percent of resales in April, down from a revised 10.2 percent in March, and down from 21.9 percent a year ago. Last month was the lowest since 8.2 percent in October 2007. Foreclosure resales peaked at 52.0 percent in February 2009. The monthly average for foreclosure resales over the past 17 years is about 10 percent.

Short sales – transactions where the sale price fell short of what was owed on the property – made up an estimated 15.0 percent of Bay Area resales last month. That was down from an estimated 16.4 percent in March and down from 22.1 percent a year earlier.
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Buyers who appear to have paid all cash – meaning no sign of a corresponding purchase loan was found in the public record – accounted for 27.8 percent of sales in April. That was down from 30.8 percent the month before and down from 28.3 percent a year earlier.

Distressed sales are down in California, and foreclosures are back to 2007 levels (although short sales are much higher). Sales in SoCal were the highest for April since 2006 - and the mostly conventional sales. This is a recovering market.