California home sales in January plunge to lowest level since 2008

As economic and market uncertainties sent Home sales in California in January to their lowest level since April 2008, business insiders say growth in the Golden State's housing market appears to be slowing.

According to a report Tuesday in the Orange County Register newspaper, statewide existing, single-family Home sales totaled 357,730 in January on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, down 3.9 percent from December 2018 and down 12.6 percent year on year.

Meanwhile, the median sales price for California Homes dropped 3.4 percent, from 557,600 U.S. dollars in last December to 538,690 dollars this January, halting a year-long surge in prices.

The report cited the newest data issued from the California Association of Realtors as saying that the steady rise of Home prices over the last several years and the swelling supply contributed to the current downward trend.

Even though the median price declined in January compared to last December, it still jumped 2.1 percent from a revised 527,780 dollars in January 2018.

The median Home price in Los Angeles, for example, is expected to rise 2.6 percent in 2019 to 579,500 dollars from 565,000 dollars last year, meanwhile there are currently 27,522 Homes on the listing in Southern California this year, much more than 21,219 in 2018.

"California continued to move toward a more balanced market as we see buyers having greater negotiating power and sellers making concessions to get their Homes sold as inventory grows," said Jared Martin, president of the California Association of Realtors.

But analysts think the market slowdown does not mean a large-scale price drop in the short term. Price reduction varies from area to area.

"In hot areas of Southern California, Homes priced under 1,000,000 U.S. dollars still sell good," Kevin Zhang, a local real estate agent, told Xinhua. "The monthly mortgage payment for these kinds of properties is almost same as the rental payment. That's why their sales are still relatively stable."

On a price-to-income ratio basis, house prices in Los Angeles and the Bay Area are among the most expensive in the country, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.