Crabtree report: Home prices rose 3.5 percent in last month
| Thursday, Dec 03 2009 06:09 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Dec 03 2009 06:10 PM
Bakersfield's housing market posted mixed results last month as fewer homes sold but prices rose among those that did sell, according to a preliminary report released Thursday by local appraiser Gary Crabtree.
The city's median home sale price in November rose to $142,845, up 3.5 percent from October but still 5.1 percent below the median a year before, the report states. The median is the price at which half the homes sold for less and half sold for more.
Also good news for homeowners was data showing that foreclosures in the city declined by 6 percent to 631 between October and November. That was about 15 percent more homes than were foreclosed on in November 2008, Crabtree reported.
On the other hand, sales of existing homes in November totaled 500, a decline of a little more than a fifth below October's tally. That was still 8 percent more than November 2008's total.
Distressed listings were up, too -- from about 53 percent of all home listings in October to about 57 percent in November. A year before, these listings of lender- and corporate-owned home and short sales accounted for about 62 percent of all homes on the market locally.
