While more and more consumers are using stock market money to buy a home they are also using home equity to buy stocks.

Californian home sellers enjoyed $72,500 in home equity during the fourth quarter of 1999 and the only single item they said they used the extra money for more often than stocks was for a down payment on another home, according to California Association of REALTORS' Fourth Quarter Housing Finance Survey.

"Home equity, the median net cash to sellers, was a solid $72,500 in the fourth quarter 1999," said Leslie Appleton-Young, C.A.R.'s vice president and chief economist.

"That's just slightly below the $73,000 net cash in the third quarter 1999 and the fourth-highest during the 1990s."

Sellers used net equity gains from the sale of their homes for a variety of purchases.

• 42.8 percent used the net cash for a down payment on their next home.
• 18 percent used the money for an unspecified purchase.
• 6.2 percent used the money for stock market investments.
• 4.6 percent used the money to purchase furniture.
• 3.6 percent used the money to purchase a car.
• 3.1 percent used the money for vacation.
• 1.0 percent used the money to purchase electronics.

Californians' net equity gains were highest in 1989 when they enjoyed $87,150. This decade other high figures were $80,000 in 1990 and $75,000 in the first quarter of 1999, according to CAR.

Transferring wealth from the home to financial investments isn't surprising. CAR's survey merely quantifies what home owners already know.

In recent years, the booming economy has swelled returns on financial investments at a pace that far exceeds home appreciation, according to the Federal Reserve Board's "Recent Changes in U.S. Family Finances: The 1998 Survey of Consumer Finances". The triennial study measured, among other consumer finances, financial wealth and nonfinancial wealth, including owner-occupied housing.

The stock market also plays a growing role in the decision to buy or sell a home, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the San Francisco Bay Area 27.6 percent of buyers and sellers looked to the stock market to make their decision in the fourth quarter 1999, compared to 17.5 percent in the third quarter 1999, according to the survey. Statewide the number was only 11.5 percent.

Buyers are particularly bullish on Wall Street.

Stock market proceeds were used in 23.9 percent of home purchase's in the San Francisco Bay Area, compared to 20 percent in Orange County and 12.9 percent in Los Angeles County. Statewide the number was 13.8 percent.

CAR's quarterly survey series analyzes financing, property characteristics and buyer and seller demographics of California REALTORS' most recent transactions. The fourth quarter results are based on a survey sent out to 5,000 California REALTORS, with more than 500 valid responses for transactions that took place in October, November and December 1999.