California median home price soars to record-high

California median home price sets record-high

The median price for a single-family home in California now tops $900,000 - up more than 11% from March.

LOS ANGELES - Welcome to California, where it's apparently so expensive to rent while simultaneously being so expensive to own. If you know, you know!

It's so expensive in the Golden State - records are being broken.

The statewide median home price has exceeded $900,000 for the first time ever, setting a new record-high, the California Association of Realtors revealed in its latest report.

April’s sales pace rose 3% from the revised 267,470 homes sold in March and increased 4.4%, data showed. Year-to-date home sales grew 1.6%.

"April’s rebound in both home sales and price shows the resilience of California’s housing market and is a signal that buyers and sellers are beginning to adjust to the higher interest rate environment," said C.A.R. President Melanie Barker. "Market fundamentals are showing signs of improvement, and competition is on the rise again; homes are selling faster and nearly half the share of homes is selling above asking price ― the highest in nine months."

The statewide median price recorded a new all-time high in April, jumping 11.4% from $811,510 in April 2023 to $904,210 in April 2024, exceeding the $900,000-benchmark for the first time in history.

California’s median home price was 5.8% higher than March’s $854,490. The year-over-year gain was the 10th straight month of annual price increases for the Golden State.

Analysts pointed to seasonal factors and tight housing supply conditions putting pressure on home prices in the coming months.

But it seems the hefty price tag isn't stopping everyone from purchasing homes.

Sales in the $1 million-and-higher market segment surged 39.8% year-over-year in April, the study found.

According to the report, sales in the Central Coast region increased the most from a year ago, skyrocketing to 26.7%, followed by 23.1% in the San Francisco Bay Area, then the Central Valley (11.3%). Southern California sales also increased, but not as much at 8.7%.

In fact, it's the Bay Area that recorded the biggest jump in median home value on a year-over-year basis, increasing 15.5% from last April. Along with Southern California (12.1%), they were the only two regions posting a double-digit price gain from a year ago.

Here are the median prices by county in Southern California:

Imperial: $377,500
Los Angeles: $825,970
Orange: $1,40,000
Riverside: $650,000
San Bernardino: $516,080
San Diego: $1,047,500
Ventura: $940,000

According to the report, it took an average of just 16 days to sell a California single-family home in April 2024, down from 20 days in April 2023.

Meanwhile, the statewide average price per square foot for an existing single-family home was $440, up from $394 in April last year.

The 30-year, fixed-mortgage interest rate averaged 6.99% in April, up from 6.34% in April 2023, according to C.A.R.’s calculations based on Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage survey data.

To see the full report, tap or click here.