New-home sales dropped 45.4 percent year-over-year in September, the California Building Industry Association and Hanley Wood Market Intelligence reported Wednesday, while median prices dropped 9.7 percent.
The median price of all new homes — including single-family, townhomes, multiplexes and condos — was $402,900 in September, down from $445,990 in September 2006.
The median price for new single-family homes dropped 12.1 percent, from $452,990 in September 2006 to $398,060 in September 2007. Single-family new-home sales dropped 39.4 percent, from 4,225 in September 2006 to 2,561 in September 2007.
Jonathan Dienhart, director of published research for HWMI, said in a statement, “The problems relating to credit availability don’t seem like they will be resolving themselves in the near future. Until we have stabilization in the broader market of real estate-backed securities, access to financing will remain restrictive for many potential home buyers.”
He added, “Many would-be home buyers have taken themselves out of the market because they see it as too risky, and until this perception improves, we will continue to experience a degree of paralysis in the new- and existing-home markets.”
Among the metro areas with more than 100 new-home sales in September, sales dropped 66.9 percent in the San Diego area, 65.1 percent in the Los Angeles area, 46.1 percent in the Oakland area, 44 percent in the Irvine area and 31.4 percent in the Riverside area, with the slightest decline at 2.3 percent for the Fresno area compared to September 2006.
Also among the metro areas with more than 100 new-home sales in September, the Irvine area had the steepest price decline at 16.7 percent, while the Oakland area was the only area to experience a price gain, at 1.1 percent compared to September 2006.
