CALIFORNIA HOME SALES CLIMB TO HIGHEST LEVEL IN NEARLY THREE YEARS
From CAR Sustained job and income growth gave home buyers the confidence in July to jump into the California housing market, pushing home sales to their highest level in nearly three years, C.A.R. reported this week. Home sales have risen year over year for six straight months. Home sales remained above the 400,000 mark in July for the fourth consecutive month and rose to highest level since October 2012. Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 449,530 units in July. The July figure was up 2.7 percent from the revised 437,680 level in June and 12.7 percent compared with home sales in July 2014 of a revised 398,980. The year-to-year change was the highest since July 2009 and significantly higher than the 6-month average increase of 6 percent observed from January 2015-June 2015. The median price of an existing, single-family detached California home dipped 0.3 percent in July to $488,260 from $489,640 i...