California marked its first increase in home sales year over year in April with a 2.5 percent increase for single-family homes over the same month a year ago. The significance of that iceberg level of movement is that for 30 months, the number of sales has dipped month after month.

Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist and vice president of the California Association of Realtors says: "Significant price declines are spurring home sales to bargain hunters and first-time buyers at the middle- and low-end of the market, especially in areas with a concentration of distressed properties." One of the biggest turnaround submarkets in California is Monterey County. The prices in that region have dropped tremendously over the last year by about 45 percent. As a result, buyers are coming out of the red-woodwork and writing contracts at an astounding rate. In April the Monterey Association of Realtors tracked 65 percent more sales than a year ago.

One of the county’s most popularly known dwellings is the city of Monterey -- where the cost of living is 93 percent higher than the national average, according to BestPlaces.net, and where the average price of a home stands above $1 million, while the city has an unemployment rate of only 2.5 percent -- one of the lowest in the country.

The county is not as expensive. Here are the numbers -- the average price stands at $399,900, which is a drop of 47 percent a year ago. As stated, the drop has increased the sales to 190 for the month in the county -- an increase of 65 percent. The price correction may not be over, as the average price dropped from March to April by 7 percent; however, it’s obviously not stopping the buyers. From March to April, the number of sales surged 69 percent.

Published: June 6, 2008

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