Home sales throughout Bay Area drop to nine-year low

Home sales in the Bay Area hit a nine-year low during the month of August, according to new data released Thursday by financial services firm CoreLogic.

The data show that last month, 7,247 homes were sold in the Bay Area, the lowest for that month since August 2010 when just 6,698 homes were sold in the region.

Andrew LePage, an analyst with CoreLogic, said in a statement:

“Although Bay Area home sales in August fell nearly six percent from a year earlier, the recent drop in mortgage rates likely helped temper that decline.”

The data also showed that for the past 13 consecutive months, sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis.

LePage said:

“Some buyers no doubt remain parked on the sidelines, concerned about the possibility of buying near a price peak, and affordability remains a huge hurdle for many.”

The median price for homes sold in the Bay Area last month was $810,000, which is down 0.7 percent from July 2019 when the price was $816,000 and down 2.4 percent from $830,000 in August 2018, according to the data.

He said:

“Last month’s 2.4 percent annual decline in the median reflects both lower home prices in some areas as well as a shift toward a lower share of sales occurring in some of the region’s more expensive areas.”

According to last month’s data, Contra Costa County had the highest number of homes sold with 1,529.