The Southland Board of Realtors reports February 2009 closed sales of 167 single family homes in February 2009, an increase of 45% over February 2008.  For condominiums, closed sales increased by 22% for a total of 45 units.

Monthly single family homes sales have increased consistently for the past 12 months while condo’s have continued to increase for the past 9.

The rate of decline in median prices seems to be abating with a year over year decrease of 17% in single family homes to $408,000, although this is actually up by 3% over Jan 2009.  Condo median prices fell 28% year over year to $225,000 – but this increased by 10% from the prior month.  We will need to watch this trend closely over the coming months to verify whether a trend of strengthening prices has returned.

With an inventory of 1,284 homes representing a 6 month supply – close to the range of 5 to 6 months considered by many to represent a “balanced” market.  However the total listings are 40% lower than one year ago.

The below table depicts 2009 sales broken out among the categories of lender owned, short sales, and all other sales.  As in the January sales posting, lender owned and then short sales are dominating the market at this time.

This data was extracted from the SoCal MLS (Multiple Listing Service).  It is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.  Note that a minor difference exists from the total sales reported by the Southland Regional Association of Realtors.