Orange County Register

Click to enlarge

Costa Mesa-based Hanley Wood Market Intelligence reported this week that new home prices rebounded in February after tumbling 39 percent in the past three years.

Sales contracts signed by buyers in February were down 44.4% from the year before, but up from previous months.

Hanley Wood’s data — based on contracts signed, not closed sales — serve as an early indicator of future new home closings. During the past two years, for example, Hanley Wood reported that sales contracts fell from a high of 413 in February 2007 to a lot of 43 in December (see chart below for the past 14 months).

According to the research firm’s February report:

• The median price of a new home contract signed in February was $649,000 — up 30% from January.
• From peak to trough thus far, median price had dropped from $750,000 in February 2006 to $455,000 this past November. (See chart)
• The median price of a house contract signed in February was $890,000, up 5% from February 2008, but down 31% from a peak of nearly $1.3 million in February 2006.
• The median price of a new condo was $395,900 in February, down 9% from the previous year; the townhome median price was $419,990, down 7.3%.
• Buyers signed 95 new home purchase contracts in February. While down from the previous year, that was up 25% from January and more than double the number of new home contracts signed in December, the low point in contracts during the past three years.

New home contracts likewise showed “modest improvements” across the state.

“February sales figures were poor, as expected,” said Jonathan Dienhart, Hanley Wood’s Director of Published Research. “But with the incremental improvement from January, they suggest we may finally be seeing the bottom of housing declines.”

In other real estate news …

• O.C. homebuying up 45% in late March
• Home price up in only 5 O.C. ZIPs in late March
• SoCal homebuying rises for 9th straight month
• O.C. home-sale dollars take 1st dip in 8 months
• Discounts increase at O.C. foreclosure auctions
• O.C. foreclosures drop to 22-month low
• ‘Castle’ owner charged in clash over wall
• This ‘queen’ still awaits a sale
• Laguna Beach’s $9.495 million short sale
• Bought a home in last 7 years? You could become upside down

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.