DataQuick: Bay Area Home Sales “Drag Along Bottom”

DataQuick released their numbers for October today and, like last month, the picture for the bay area as a whole is pretty gloomy. 5,486 houses were sold last month in the greater bay area. This was up 9% from the dismal numbers reported last month, but down 36% from October of last year and the poorest October on record since DataQuick started keeping track in 1988. Difficulty obtaining jumbo loans appears to be at least partly to blame, as the number of purchases financed with jumbos “dropped in half” (nit: it’s not clear from the article whether this is from last month, last year or some other time).

The news wasn’t all bad, however. There was a small increase in the median sale price both when compared to last month and to last October. DataQuick also acknowledged that some bay area markets seem to be relatively impervious to the downturn:

The metro Bay Area markets – near the coast and close to the major job centers – are weathering this downturn better than the rest of the state. We’re finding that higher-priced areas are not seeing the price declines we’re seeing in the more affordable areas that absorbed spillover activity during the frenzy two years ago.

The article can be read in its entirety here. And, back by popular demand, here’s a picture summarizing my take on this month’s data:

Image credit: euan_pics via Flickr.