California’s Median Home Price Hits Another Record High in June

For the second straight month, California’s median single-family home price reached a new peak in June, climbing to $602,760. The median sales price in the nine-county Bay Area was $1,045,000, a year-over-year increase of 16.1 percent.

A lack of homes for sale continued to drive Golden State prices in June, with the nine-county Bay Area posting double-digit percent annual appreciation for the 12th straight month.

The California Association of Realtors’ latest monthly home sales and price report says that the state’s median single-family home price was $602,760 in June, a year-over-year gain of 8.5 percent. June marked the second month in a row that state home prices reached a new peak. California home prices have risen on an annual basis for more than six years and currently show no signs of leveling off, according to CAR.

The Bay Area led the state for year-over-year price growth last month, with the median sales price of $1,045,000 up by 16.1 percent from June 2017. All nine counties recorded year-over-year price appreciation, ranging from 6.4 percent in Contra Costa County to 18.4 percent in Santa Clara County.

San Mateo County overtook San Francisco as California’s most expensive housing market, with the median price ending June at $1,650,500. San Francisco followed in the No. 2 spot, at $1,620,000, followed by Marin ($1,415,000), Santa Clara ($1,400,000) and Alameda ($1,015,000) counties.

In what has become a familiar refrain, CAR attributed the statewide and regional price growth to a shortage of homes on the market. Although active listings increased for the third consecutive month and were up by 8.1 percent from last June, the market remains tilted in favor of sellers, with a 3.0-month supply of inventory.

The nine-county Bay Area had a 2.0-month supply of homes for sale, unchanged from May and a slight improvement from one year ago. San Francisco has the state’s most pronounced inventory drought, with a 1.4-month supply of homes for sale, followed by Alameda County at 1.5.

Properties continue to leave the market at a rapid clip, with California single-family homes selling in a median 15 days, identical to the pace of sales in both May and June 2017. Bay Area homes sold in 13 days, with Santa Clara County again posting the fewest median days on the market in California, with homes finding a buyer in nine days.