In January, California’s existing home sales saw a significant rebound, reaching the highest level in six months. According to the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.), this was due to a sharp decrease in mortgage rates at the end of 2023.
The closed escrow sales for existing single-family detached homes reached an annualized rate of 256,160 in January – a notable increase of 14.4% from December. While this marks the first year-over-year gain in sales after 31 months, it still falls below the threshold of 300,000 units and is expected to remain there throughout Q1.
C.A.R predicts that with interest rates continuing to moderate and currently sitting nearly one hundred basis points lower than their recent peak, home sales will continue on an upward trend into February but at a modest pace.
Melanie Barker, President of C.A.R., stated that it is encouraging to see positive growth in California’s housing market as we enter into another year. She also noted that while there may be some fluctuations due to fluctuating interest rates over the coming months; overall lending conditions are expected improve throughout 2024 which should translate into increased demand and subsequent home sales.
