Another sluggish month for Socal housing market

February home sales in L.A. County fell 3.5 percent from the previous month and 6 percent from a year earlier, according to Dataquick, while the median price rose 5 percent from the previous month and was unchanged from a year earlier. In other words, nothing much happened in February, as buyers and sellers keep biding their time. Foreclosure sales remained a big part of the picture, and there was stronger demand from investors, on the bet that sooner or later the market will take off. From press release:

"What the past two months do tell us is that lots of people have bet, often with cash, that housing at today's prices will prove a solid investment," said John Walsh, DataQuick president. "This spring we'll see an infusion into the market of more traditional buyers, who aren't necessarily purchasing with an investor mindset. If the stars line up right - low prices, low mortgage rates, available credit, higher job growth and higher consumer confidence - we could see sales shoot back up to more normal levels. There's pent-up demand out there. Lots of people have been waiting for the right time to buy. But they've got to feel more confident in their jobs, they've got to qualify for a loan and, for some, they need to be convinced prices are at or near bottom."

The new monkey wrench, of course, is way higher gas prices and the possibility of an economic slowdown. I mean, who wants to buy a house in Thousand Oaks if it means shelling out $5 a gallon to commute to work downtown? And $5 a gallon could be just around the corner. But frankly, it's more than just gas prices. The disaster in Japan, along with continued unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, is giving everybody the shakes (witness today's big drop in U.S. stocks), and that can't be very conducive to home buying.

FEBRUARY HOME SALES (% change from February 2010)
Los Angeles 4,736 -5.9%
Orange 1,903 -4.2%
Riverside 2,842 -11.2%
San Bernardino 1,974 -5.8%
Ventura 584 +0.7%

FEBRUARY MEDIAN PRICE (% change from February 2010)
Los Angeles $315,000 0.0%
Orange $410,000 -1.7%
Riverside $195,000 -1.0%
San Bernardino $150,000 0.0%
Ventura $345,000 -1.4%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems, DQNews.com