Resale Housing Market Strong In May

The California Association of Realtors May report indicated that theresale housing market still has a lot of life left in it, much to thesurprise of many analysts. Unit sales in the state were up 7.2% over theyear, while the median home price advanced 11.8% to $246,420. The mediannumber of days it took to sell a home was 29, compared with 35 days last year. Trends in Southern California were mixed. In Los Angeles County, unitsales were up a sturdy 17.5% over the year, while the median price movedahead 3.0% to $208,710. Orange County posted a rather modest increase inunit sales of 0.5%, but the median price jumped 17.0% to $322,080.Similarly, San Diego County recorded a 3.1% increase over the year in unitsales, while the median price was up 20.7% to $276,650. And Ventura Countysaw unit sales increase 3.4% over the year, while the median price was up10.7% to $288,780. In the Riverside-San Bernardino area, unit sales declined over theyear by 3.4%, continuing a recent trend. However, the median priceadvanced 8.4% to $137,190. And the Bay Area? Say aaah! "San Francisco Bay" saw unit sales holdessentially even with last year, up just 0.2%, while prices surged 25.8% toa median of $460,930. In San Jose, unit sales dipped over the year 6.5%,but the median price jumped 33.5% to $530,000. The state's biggest priceincrease over the year was notched by Monterey County, with a 34.2% gain to$421,330. Is it the artichokes, the golf courses or the wine? (Jack Keyser)