If you’re thinking about putting your home on the market this spring, don’t expect it to sell right away.
The California Association of Realtors has released data for March showing homes sat on the market more than twice as long they did a year ago.
Statewide, the median number of days a home was listed for sale was 19 days, a 137% increase over March 2022. 281,050 homes went under contract in March, 34% fewer than last March and one percent lower than in February, data showed.
CAR said the housing market continues to be impacted by erratic mortgage rates.
“While buyers perhaps took advantage of lower mortgage rates at the start of the year, a recent upturn in mortgage rates threatens to keep the housing market under pressure,” CAR said. “Sales of existing single-family homes took a step back as well as mortgage applications.”
While the year-to-year comparison might show continuing weakness in California’s real estate market, the month-to-month comparisons tell a slightly different story.
In March, California’s median home price was $791,490, an increase of 7.6% over February. March also marked the second straight month of increasing home prices after they had consistently fallen for nearly a year.
Median Sold Price of Existing Single-Family Homes
| Region | March 2023 | February 2023 | March 2022 | Month-to-month price change | Year-to-year price change | Month-to-month sales | Year-to-year sales |
| Statewide | $791,490 | $735,480 | $851,130 | 7.6% | -7% | -1% | -34.2% |
| Los Angeles Metro | $735,000 | $710,000 | $770,000 | 3.5% | -4.5% | 39.1% | -34.2% |
| Central Coast | $922,500 | $856,000 | $1,050,000 | 7.8% | -12.1% | 44.0% | -31.2% |
| Central Valley | $453,550 | $449,000 | $495,000 | 1.0% | -8.4% | 37.5% | -27.7% |
| Far North | $355,000 | $369,000 | $395,000 | -3.8% | -10.1% | 35.7% | -38.9% |
| Inland Empire | $555,000 | $549,900 | $580,000 | 0.9% | -4.3% | 31.0% | -39.6% |
| San Francisco Bay Area | $1,228,000 | $1,050,000 | $1,408,000 | 17.0% | -12.8% | 59.9% | -35.5% |
| Southern California | $770,000 | $745,000 | $802,500 | 3.4% | -4.0% | 38.3% | -33.8% |
Home prices are rising the fastest in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is where you will also find the highest median prices in the state. According to CAR, the median sale price in the Bay Area was $1,228,000 in March, up 17% over February.
California’s Central Coast saw prices rise by nearly 8%.
In Southern California, existing home sales “appear to be bottoming out,” CAR said in its report. Sales regionally were up 38% over February and prices were up 3.4%.
