DataQuick: Bay Area Home Sales at 15-year low, Prices Up

From DataQuick: Bay Area home sales slowest since early 1990s, flat prices

DataQuick says Bay Area median prices in August rose 4.0% vs. year ago, while sales fell 24.9% . It was the slowest August since ‘92 and the 31st straight month of declining year-over-year sales. Says DataQuick of the Bay Area: “Homes in the Bay Area are more expensive than elsewhere and most of them are financed with ‘jumbo’ mortgages. The turbulence in the mortgage markets has made it more difficult to get this type of financing.

San Francisco prices increased by 7.8%

These numbers are for both new and existing homes. For existing homes, sales that closed in August were actually signed in June or July - before the credit market turmoil. That is why we have to wait a couple of months to know the answer to DataQuick's question: "The question is: does this pull the plug on some market activity, or does it just slow things down?"

DataQuick on foreclosures:
"Foreclosure resales accounted for 4.8 percent of August's sales activity, up from 4.5 percent in July, and up from 1.2 percent in August of last year. Foreclosure resales do not yet have a regional effect on prices."