DataQuick: Southland Checks In with Stable Prices

DataQuick reports: Southland home sales: Slowest January since 1998, stable prices :

The median price paid for a Southern California home was $485,000 last month, down 1.0 percent from a revised $490,000 for December, and up 5.0 percent from a revised $462,000 for January last year. The overall median always declines from December to January because of changes in market mix. December's median matched the peak reached last June.

A total of 18,128 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was down 25.1 percent from a revised 24,209 for December, and down 17.2 percent from a revised 21,895 for January last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Survey

Homeowners Borrow Less Against Equity in Their Homes, Data Show from TheWSJ:
"Homeowners extracted $113.5 billion ... via mortgage refinancing and other means in the third quarter, the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2003, according to new estimates by a Federal Reserve staffer and former chairman Alan Greenspan.

That amount ... was down from $151.8 billion in the second quarter, and the high of $235.9 billion recorded in the third quarter of last year. The latest figure equals 4.7% of households' after-tax income, compared to 10.4% in the third quarter of 2005."

Housing Bubble and Real Estate Market Tracker from SA for 2/15