More signs of a real estate bottom as home sales, median price climb in Bay Area

By Pete Carey with Mercury News.

The number of previously owned single family homes sold in Santa Clara County jumped 31 percent in June in another sign that the market has hit bottom, helped by the greater availability of mortgages.

The median sale price of a previously owned single-family home in the county reached $485,000, up from $475,000 in May, the fifth consecutive monthly increase since home prices bottomed in January, according to a report released today by the real estate information firm MDA DataQuick. But the market has a long climb before a recovery is proclaimed — that average price is still down 27.6 percent from the median price of $670,000 a year ago.

Still, there was plenty of activity. Buoyed by foreclosures and short sales, 2,090 homes and condos, both new and resale, changed hands in the county last month, up from 1,626 in June of last year.

The brisk activity mirrored increases throughout the Bay Area, according to DataQuick. Bay Area sales of single-family homes and condos were at their highest level in almost three years, with 8,644 of them changing hands, a 20 percent increase over June of 2008. That makes 10 months of steady year-over-year increases, the company said.

The sales were boosted by improved mortgage availability and a perception that prices have bottomed out, the company said.

Tough standards for mortgage lending appear to be easing, said DataQuick President John Walsh. “There’s still a long way to go, but it

looks like the worst of the grind is over,” he said in a news release.

The Bay Area’s median price for previously owned single-family homes was $360,000.