It's not the Jones family you need to worry about keeping up with -- keep your eye on the Smiths if you're buying in Florida or California -- they're a majority.

A total of 2,152 people named Smith purchased a home in Florida last year. The second most common last name was Johnson with 1,486, followed by Rodriguez with 1,337, Brown with 1,276 and Williams with 1,269 home purchases, a real estate information service reported.

In California, on the other hand, a total of 2,630 people named Smith purchased a home in California last year. The second most common homebuyer last name was Garcia with 2,553, followed by Johnson with 2,214, Lee with 2,079 and Hernandez with 2,039 home purchases, a real estate information service reported.

In Florida, the Smiths paid a median $84,000 for their home, so did the Johnsons. The Rodriguez median was $85,000, Brown median was $85,000 and the Williams median was $80,000, according to Acxiom/DataQuick Information Systems.

In California, the Smiths paid a median of $165,000 for their homes, the Garcias paid a median $123,000, the Johnsons $159,000, the Lees $210,500 and the median was $117,000 for homebuyers with the last name Hernandez.

"Generating lists like this from our database may seem a bit frivolous, but when you dip deeper into the well, interesting demographic patterns emerge," said Mike Ela, who heads the DataQuick Products Division. He pointed out that Hispanic surnames have become more common during the last decade, as have homebuyers with female first names.

While Florida home buyers named Smith paid a median $84,000, the overall median hides regional differences. In Highlands County the median for Smith was $48,000, while it was $129,000 in St. Johns County. Nationwide, Smiths paid a median $122,000 last year, ranging from $78,000 in Oklahoma to $230,000 in Hawaii.

California homebuyers named Smith paid a median $165,000. In Merced County the median for Smith was $71,500, while it was $380,000 in Marin County. Nationwide, Smiths paid a median $122,000 last year, ranging from $78,000 in Oklahoma to $230,000 in Hawaii.

Acxiom/DataQuick, which has an offices in Florida and California, monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.

In Florida, the highest home prices were paid by people the last names of Siegel with a median of $153,000, Silverman with $149,000, Steinberg with $140,000 and Freedman with $140,000. At the other end of the scale was the last name Amos with $61,000.

A total of 319,963 homes were purchased in Florida last year, up from 288,420 the year before. The state's median home price went up from $90,000 in 1997 to $95,000 last year.

The most common Bay Area surnames last year were Nguyen, Lee, Smith, Johnson and Wong. In Southern California the most common names were Garcia, Hernandez, Smith, Lopez and Martinez, Acxiom/DataQuick reported.

At a median of $310,000, homebuyers with the last name Stern bought the highest-priced homes, followed by Lo with $308,000 and Chou with $302,000. At the other end of the scale homebuyers with the last name Velazquez and Saldana paid a median $105,000.

Published: April 2, 1999

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