An estimated 36,468 new and resale houses and condos sold statewide last month in California, up 1.2% from September and down 7.1% from October 2012, according to San Diego-based real estate data services provider DataQuick.
DataQuick says that October's sales were 15.4% below the average of 43,092 sales for all the months of October since 1988, when DataQuick began tracking sales numbers.
In addition, DataQuick reports that the median price paid for a home in California in October was $357,000, up 0.6% from September and up 25.3% from October 2012. October was the 20th consecutive month in which the state's median sale price rose year over year and the 11th straight month with a gain exceeding 20%, DataQuick adds.
Of the existing homes sold last month, DataQuick notes that 6.6% were properties that had been foreclosed on during the past year. This was the lowest level for foreclosure resales since June 2007. October's figure was down from a revised 7.1% month over month and down 17.1% year over year.
Furthermore, DataQuick says short sales made up an estimated 12.6% of the homes that resold in October. That was down from an estimated 13.1% month over month and down 26.7% year over year.
The typical monthly mortgage payment that California buyers committed themselves to paying in October was $1,395, down from $1,437 the month before and up from $1,009 a year earlier, DataQuick notes.
