Hot home sales June brings sizzling summer season for Solano County real estate market

Article Launched: 07/30/2005 07:55:10 AM

Hot home sales June brings sizzling summer season for local real estate market

By Reporter Staff

Temperatures weren't the only thing sizzling in June in Solano County.
The arrival of summer has brought with it a continued hot housing market, according to the latest numbers from the California Association of Realtors and DataQuick Information Systems, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates that monitors real estate activity nationwide.

The median price of a home sold in Solano County in June jumped a whopping 25.4 percent
to $449,000 compared to a year ago, according to numbers recently released by DataQuick. And sales remain hot as well, with 1,147 homes sold last month compared with 1,055 during the same month last year - a jump of 8.7 percent.

The Solano numbers are even better than statewide figures. The median price of a California home sold in June jumped 16 percent to $542,720 compared to a year ago and rose almost 4 percent over the price recorded in May, according to the California Association of Realtors.
Sales statewide also increased almost 4 percent from 633,660 homes sold in June 2004 to 656,310 homes in 2005.

Benicia, where housing prices skyrocketed 48 percent last year, was among the top 10 cities showing the highest appreciation, according to CAR.

"Fixed mortgage interest rates have fallen compared with a year ago, and remain below 6 percent," CAR President Jim Hamilton said in a statement. "This continues to propel both sales and the median price of a home as consumers gauge current market conditions against future interest rate increases."

Home sales in the Bay Area hit their second-highest level ever in June as the median sales price passed $600,000 for the first time, DataQuick reported.

"Robust demand, unchanging mortgage interest rates and a few more homes on the market are the likely factors behind the strong June numbers. We expect the rest of the summer to be like this," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $610,000, a new record. That was up 2.5 percent from $595,000 in May, and up 18.2 percent from $516,000 for June a year ago.
The median went through the $500,000 range in 13 months, it was in the $400,000 range for 25 months before that.

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, www.DQNews.com