The Spring 2024 homebuying season kicked off with an encouraging start for home sales and record-high home prices, according to the latest home sales and price report from the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.).
The typical California single-family, detached house for sale now costs more than $900,000, a first-time-in-history, record-breaker for the median price. The April 2024 statewide median home price was $904,210, up 5.8% from the March price of $854,490, and up 11.4% from the $811,510 posted in April 2023.
The year-over-year gain was the 10th straight month of annual price increases in the Golden State.
Seasonal factors and tight housing supply conditions will continue to put upward pressure on home prices across the state in the coming months.
Historically speaking, it was roughly two years ago, in March 2022, when the median crossed $800,000 for the first time. Other statewide $100,000 home-price thresholds include $700,000 in August 2020, $600,000 in May 2018, $500,000 in April 2004, $400,000 in August 2003 and $300,000 in March 2002.
In San Diego County, home prices are still moving higher and approaching $1.1 million. The median sales price of an existing, single-family detached home in April 2024 was $1,047,500, a 2.7% difference from March 2024, when the median price was $1,020,000. In February 2024, the median price was $980,000. A year ago, in April 2023, the median price for a San Diego home was $930,000, a difference of 12.6% from April 2024.
April 2024 County Sales and Price Activity
(Regional and condo sales data not seasonally adjusted)
Meanwhile, as prices continue to rise, home sales also are rebounding.
On a statewide basis, the sales pace increased 3% for April 2024, when 275,540 existing, single-family detached homes were sold on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate. The statewide annualized sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2024 if sales maintained the April pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.
The 3% increase is a comparison with the previous month of March 2024, when 267,470 homes were sold. In a year-over-year comparison between April 2024 and April 2023, the sales pace difference was 4.4%. The year-to-date home sales grew 1.6%.
The number of California homebuyers in April 2024 was below 300,000 for the 19th consecutive month. Since 1990, homebuying in the state has averaged 402,000 sales per month.
In San Diego County, sales of existing, single-family homes increased 7.5% in April 2024, compared to March 2024, and 8.8%, compared to April 2023.
“April’s rebound in both home sales and price shows the resilience of California’s housing market and is a signal that buyers and sellers are beginning to adjust to the higher interest rate environment,” said C.A.R. President Melanie Barker, a Yosemite REALTOR®. “Market fundamentals are showing signs of improvement, and competition is on the rise again; homes are selling faster and nearly half the share of homes is selling above asking price, the highest in nine months.”
“While the market performed solidly in April, we don’t expect to see a rapid recovery as long as inflation remains sticky and mortgage rates continue to fluctuate despite recent dips,” said C.A.R. Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Jordan Levine. “However, housing inventory has also started to increase, which will provide much-needed supply to the market and facilitate a higher level of home sales in the second half of the year.”
Sales of homes priced at or above $1 million in California continued to hold up better than their more affordable counterparts in the state during the last few months. Sales in the $1 million-and-higher market segment in April 2024 surged 39.8% year-over-year, while the sub-$500,000 segment declined moderately (-8.0%) during the same timeframe.
The change in the mix of sales of homes priced above $1 million accounted for more than one-third (36.4%) of all sales, which was the largest share in the last five years.
The growth in sales of higher-priced homes continues to provide upward support to the statewide median price and was partly responsible for the solid increase in the year-over-year growth rate at the start of the second quarter.
Other key points from C.A.R.’s April 2024 resale housing report include:
- April 2024 home sales in all major regions of the state advanced both in month-over-month and year-over-year, including 8.7% in Southern California.
- At the regional level, all major regions registered an increase in their median price from a year ago, including a double-digit price gain of 12.1%. The San Francisco Bay Area recorded the biggest price jump on a year-over-year basis, increasing 15.5 percent from April 2023.
- The unsold inventory statewide index, which measures the number of months needed to sell the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate, remained flat at 2.6 months in April 2024, the same number for March 2024. In April 2023, the index was 2.5 months.
April 2024 County Unsold Inventory and Days on Market
(Regional and condo sales data not seasonally adjusted)
- The unsold inventory index of available existing homes for sales in April 2024 in San Diego County was 2.2 months, a figure that was identical to March 2024. The index was 2.3 months in February 2024 and 2.6 months in January 2024. In April 2023, the index was 1.9 months. Inventory levels indicate the number of months it would take for the available supply of homes on the market to sell out given the current rate of sales.
- New active listings at the state level in April 2024 increased from a year ago for the fourth consecutive month by double digits as more sellers listed their homes up for sale in time for the spring home buying season. Despite the moderate uptick in housing demand last month, the jump in new housing supply contributed to an improvement in the overall active listings.
- The median number of days it took to sell a California single-family home was 16 days in April 2024, 19 days in March 2024, and 20 days in April 2023.
- In San Diego, the median number of days it took to sell an existing, single-family home was 12 days in April 2024, a figure that was identical to March 2024 and April 2023. For the previous 2024 months, the figure was 13 days in February and 21 days in January. The median represents the time when half the homes sell above it and half below it.
- C.A.R.’s statewide sales-price-to-list-price ratio was 100% in April 2024, a percentage that was identical to March 2024 and February 2024.
- The 30-year, fixed-mortgage interest rate averaged 6.99 percent in April, up from 6.34 percent in April 2023, according to C.A.R.’s calculations based on Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage survey data.