Bay Area home prices soar to new record

The median price paid for all homes sold in eight Bay Area counties in June set a record high of $735,000, up 1.4 percent from the previous record median price of $725,000 in May, according to CoreLogic.

The $735,000 median price in June was up 7.5 percent from June 2016 when the median price was $683,750, CoreLogic said in a news release Wednesday.

On a year-over-year basis, the median sale price has risen for 63 consecutive months since April 2012, according to CoreLogic.

CoreLogic research analyst Andrew LePage said:

“While job growth, low mortgage rates, consumer confidence and other factors have helped fuel housing demand, tight inventory remains the primary driver of price gains.”

LePage said despite the tight housing inventory, the Bay Area is quickly burning through its supply of homes for sale.

Home sales of $500,000 or more accounted for nearly 75 percent of all sales in June, according to CoreLogic.

San Francisco County had the highest median sale price of $1,250,000 in June followed by Marin County’s $1,080,050 median price. Solano County’s June median sales price of $400,000 was the lowest among the eight counties.

Median sale prices increased by double digits between June 2016 and June 2017 in five Bay area counties led by Marin County’s 13.7 percent increase.

Absentee buyers, most of them investors, bought 16 percent of all homes sold in June, according to CoreLogic.

Data from San Mateo County were not available for the June 2017 report, according to CoreLogic.