California pending home sales continued to gain steam in June, registering seven months of continued annual increases and the fifth consecutive month of double-digit increases, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.).
In a separate report, California REALTORS® responding to C.A.R.’s June Market Pulse Survey saw a reduction in floor calls, listing appointments, and open house traffic, compared with May. The Market Pulse Survey is a monthly online survey of more than 300 California REALTORS®, which measures data about their last closed transaction and sentiment about business activity in their market area for the previous month and the last year.
Pending home sales data:
• California pending home sales were up 12.5% on an annual basis from the revised 107 index recorded in June 2014, marking the seventh straight month of year-to-year gains and the fifth straight month of double-digit advances.
• Statewide pending home sales fell in June on a month-to-month basis, with the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) decreasing 2.6% from a revised 123.6 in May to 120.4, based on signed contracts. The month-to-month decrease was slightly below the average May-June loss of 1.9% observed in the last seven years.
• A shortage of available homes in the San Francisco Bay Area stifled pending sales in June, pushing the PHSI to 127.9, down 5.3% from 135.1 in May and down 0.9% from the 129.1 index recorded in June 2014.
• Pending home sales in Southern California continued last month’s increase by rising 4% in June to reach an index of 109.6, up 14.2% from the June 2014 index of 96.
• Central Valley pending sales fell in June, dropping 8.2% from May to reach an index of 99.5 in June but up 14.2% from the 87.2 index of June 2014.
Equity and distressed housing market data:
• The share of equity sales – or non-distressed property sales – declined slightly in June to make up 92.4% of all home sales, remaining near the highest level since late 2007. Equity sales made up 92.6% of all home sales in May and 89.9% in June 2014. The share of equity sales has been at or near 90% since mid-2014.
• Conversely, the combined share of all distressed property sales (REOs and short sales) rose slightly in June, up to 7.6% from 7.4% in May. Distressed sales made up 10.1% of total sales a year ago. Ten of the 43 counties that C.A.R. reported showed month-to-month decreases in their distressed sales shares, with Alameda and Santa Clara having the smallest share of distressed sales at 1%, followed by San Mateo (2 %), Contra Costa (3%), and San Francisco (3%). Glenn had the highest share of distressed sales at 27%, followed by Merced and Siskiyou (both at 23%).
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