California home sales sink

More California homebuyers are moving into foreclosed homes, although for the most part home sales are down significantly.

July saw 35,202 new and resold homes in the state, down 19.9 percent from June and 21.9 percent from a year earlier, reported MDA DataQuick. Of the homes that were sold, 35.6 percent were foreclosed properties, an increase from 34.1 percent in June but down from 43.5 percent one year ago.

On average, 47,093 homes are sold during the month of July in California. Last month's total was still higher than July's all-time low of 30,596 - which was set in 1995 - but a far cry from the high of 71,186 that was seen in July 2004.

"There was more to last month's sales drop than expiring federal home buyer tax credits, but we think they were the main reason the decline was so sharp," said MDA president John Walsh. "As the boost from the credits waned, low mortgage rates just weren’t enough to outweigh the weak economic recovery and low consumer confidence."

On a regional basis, home sales in the San Francisco Bay Area experienced a 22.8 percent drop in last month, according to MDA.


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