U.S. California sees lowest home sales in 16 years

SACRAMENTO, the United States, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The home sales of California, one of the most expensive markets in the United States, plunged to the lowest level in 16 years, a new report revealed Tuesday.

As borrowing costs remained elevated, California's existing home sales registered the biggest monthly decline last month over the past year and dropped to the lowest level since the Great Recession, the California Association of Realtors (CAR) reported on Tuesday.

The existing single-family home sales totaled 223,940 in November, down 7.4 percent from October and down 5.8 percent from a year ago, according to data collected by CAR from more than 90 local realtor associations across the state.

"Elevated mortgage interest rates and a persistent shortage of homes for sale hindered home sales in November," said 2024 CAR president Melanie Barker.

"With mortgage rates dropping to the lowest level in four months in recent weeks and the Federal Reserve indicating it plans to cut rates more than previously anticipated in 2024, more prospective homebuyers could reenter the market early next year," Barker said.

Home values and rents in California are among the most expensive in the nation. The state has experienced steeper price drops than the rest in the nation over the past year.

The statewide median price decreased 2.2 percent from October's 840,360 U.S. dollars to 822,200 dollars in November and rose 6.2 percent from a revised 774,150 dollars a year ago, according to the CAR report.

In San Francisco, one of the most expensive urban areas in the country, average home values dropped to 1.2 million dollars in November since reaching a peak of nearly 1.5 million dollars in May 2022, according to the Zillow Home Value Index, which tracks the typical home value and market changes across the U.S.

Potential homebuyers have been struggling with higher mortgage rates as well as surging prices in the state, which contributes to the declining demand.

"While sales have been weak for the past several months, a tight supply of homes for sale is keeping home prices from falling," Jordan Levine, CAR senior vice president and chief economist, explained.

"Going into 2024, the recent decline in mortgage rates, along with the upward momentum in home prices, could motivate more would-be sellers to list their homes for sale in the spring homebuying season," Levine added.