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The U.S. Senate has passed H.R. 3700, the “Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act,” by unanimous consent. This legislation includes reforms to current Federal Housing Administration restrictions on condominium financing, among other provisions, and is long supported by both the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

Changes include efforts to make FHA’s recertification process “substantially less burdensome,” while lowering FHA’s current owner-occupancy requirement from 50 percent to 35 percent. The bill also requires FHA to replace existing policy on transfer fees with the less-restrictive model already in place at the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

C.A.R. would like to thank the 19,000-plus California REALTORS® who responded to NAR’s Call-for-Action and urged their senators to pass this legislation and offer relief to home buyers.

What makes REALTORS® so strong politically is the number of constituents we have in every congressional district. Even if your business model is not based on condominium or Rural Housing Service transactions, all REALTORS® need to band together to support homebuyers to help ensure future transactions, and that is what California REALTORS® did with H.R. 3700.

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For release:
July 18, 2016

California home sales up double-digits monthly for first time since 2011

LOS ANGELES (July 18) – After a couple months of lackluster growth in transaction volume, California existing home sales rose to their highest level in nearly four years in June, as sales surpassed the 400,000 mark for the fourth consecutive month, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said today.

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 450,960 units in June, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations and MLSs statewide. The statewide sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2016 if sales maintained the June pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.

The June figure was up 10 percent from the revised 409,840 level in May and up 2.2 percent compared with home sales in June 2015 of 441,450 (revised). The month-to-month increase was the first double-digit monthly gain since January 2011 when sales of existing homes rose 11.3 percent from December 2010.

"Market conditions suggest that demand for housing will remain steady through the rest of the summer," said C.A.R. President Pat "Ziggy" Zicarelli. "However, inventory is still tight, especially at the low end of the market, and this keeps competition for those homes at an extremely high level. The recent march of mortgage rates to ever lower levels will also add to the strong demand for entry-level homes."

Rising demand combined with tight supply kept upward pressure on prices in June. The median price of an existing, single-family detached California home increased 5.5 percent in June to $519,440 from $492,320 in June 2015. June’s median price was 0.1 percent lower than the revised $519,750 recorded in May 2016. The median sales price is the point at which half of homes sold for more and half sold for less; it is influenced by the types of homes selling as well as a general change in values.

"The annual gain in the median home price is being driven by more sales at the mid-segment housing market, which comprise at least half of the overall demand," said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. "Price growth appears to be cooling somewhat in San Francisco, where the 3.2 percent increase was less than the statewide gain of 5.5 percent."

Other key points from C.A.R.’s June 2016 resale housing report include:

• C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index, which indicates the number of months needed to sell the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate, dipped slightly to 3.2 months in June from 3.4 months in May. The index stood at 3.2 months in June 2015. At the state level, there were 2.6 percent fewer homes available for sale in June compared with a year earlier. The long-run average home supply is 6.1 months, indicating inventory levels are running at roughly 60 percent of normal.
• The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home dipped slightly in June to 27.1 days, compared with 27.3 days in May and 28 days in June 2015.
• According to C.A.R.’s sales-to-list price ratio*, tight inventories also appear to be driving final sales prices closer to listing prices, with sales prices slightly decreasing to 99.6 percent of listing prices statewide in June from 99.7 percent in May.
• The average price per square foot** for an existing, single-family home statewide was $247 in June 2016, down from $248 in May but up from $237 in June 2015.
• San Francisco County had the highest price per square foot in June at $837/sq. ft., followed by San Mateo ($793/sq. ft.), and Marin ($633/sq. ft.). Counties with the lowest price per square foot in June include Siskiyou ($122/sq. ft.), Tulare ($126/sq. ft.), and Kern and Kings ($131/sq. ft.).
• Mortgage rates are expected to remain low in the foreseeable future due to global economic uncertainty. Mortgage rates declined in June, with the 30-year, fixed-mortgage interest rate averaging 3.57 percent, compared with 3.60 percent in May and 3.98 percent in June 2015, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable-rate mortgage interest rates slipped in June to an average of 2.78 percent, a decline from 2.81 percent in May and 2.99 percent in June 2015.

Graphics (click links to open):
• June sales at-a-glance infographic.
• Calif. existing home sales historical.
• Share of sales by price range.
• Historical condo sales.
• CA sales to list price ratio.
• CA price per square foot.

Note: The County MLS median price and sales data in the tables are generated from a survey of more than 90 associations of REALTORS® throughout the state, and represent statistics of existing single-family detached homes only. County sales data are not adjusted to account for seasonal factors that can influence home sales. Movements in sales prices should not be interpreted as changes in the cost of a standard home. The median price is where half sold for more and half sold for less; medians are more typical than average prices, which are skewed by a relatively small share of transactions at either the lower-end or the upper-end. Median prices can be influenced by changes in cost, as well as changes in the characteristics and the size of homes sold. The change in median prices should not be construed as actual price changes in specific homes.

*Sales-to-list price ratio is an indicator that reflects the negotiation power of home buyers and home sellers under current market conditions. The ratio is calculated by dividing the final sales price of a property by its last list price and is expressed as a percentage. A sales-to-list ratio with 100 percent or above suggests that the property sold for more than the list price, and a ratio below 100 percent indicates that the price sold below the asking price.

**Price per square foot is a measure commonly used by real estate agents and brokers to determine how much a square foot of space a buyer will pay for a property. It is calculated as the sale price of the home divided by the number of finished square feet. C.A.R. currently tracks price-per-square foot statistics for 38 counties.

Leading the way?® in California real estate for more than 110 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States with 185,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.

SALES AND PRICE ACTIVITY (SFH Homes)
Regional/ Sales Data and Condo Sales Data Not Seasonally Adjusted

SALES AND PRICE ACTIVITY (SFH Homes)
Regional/ Sales Data and Condo Sales Data Not Seasonally Adjusted

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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today awarded $75 million to help families living in public housing and those participating in HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher Program connect with services to further their education, find good jobs, and to set them on a path to self-sufficiency.

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PHILADELPHIA (July 15, 2016) — Today, Comcast and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) ConnectHome initiative took an historic step to close the digital divide in America. Now, public housing and HUD-assisted residents living in Comcast’s service area are eligible to apply for Internet Essentials, the company’s high-speed internet adoption program for low-income families.

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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) today announced four model housing developments in California, Illinois, Texas and Washington State are the recipients of the 2016 HUD Secretary’s Housing and Community Design Award. Each of these developments are recognized for excellence in affordable or accessible housing design.

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