California New Home Market Feeling the Credit Crunch, CBIA Announces

CBIA

The pace of home sales at California new-home communities slowed further in August, the California Building Industry Association reported today, prompting calls for Congress to take action to enact reforms that could increase the availability of credit.

The monthly CBIA/Hanley Wood Market Intelligence (HWMI) New Home Sales and Pricing Report showed that new home sales in August were 45 percent below August 2006, sharpening the current trend of decline. For the month, 3,420 homes and condominiums were sold in the subdivisions tracked by Costa Mesa-based HWMI, compared to 6,181 in August 2006. Sales of single family homes dropped by 43 percent, sales of townhomes and “plexes” – duplexes, triplexes, etc. – were down 25 percent and sales of condominiums were down 55 percent.

Compared with the same period last year, the median base home asking price of homes sold dropped by 7.6% percent.

Non-seasonally adjusted total new home sales were 31.5 percent lower than levels seen in July, although August generally sees a slower pace of sales activity than July. Median prices statewide were nearly unchanged compared to July.
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