California Home Prices Reaches a New Record in April

US Home Prices on the Rise: Here's Where Houses Are the Priciest
Despite a recent downturn, research firms specializing in real estate forecasts anticipate that US home prices will continue to rise in 2024. David McNew/Getty Images

Home prices in California soared to a new record high in April despite mortgage rates remaining elevated, according to a report.

The median price of a single-family home in California rose to $904,210 in April. That marks a nearly 6% increase in home prices from March and an 11% rise from April 2023, per recent data from the California Association of Realtors.

The rise in rates comes despite mortgage rates hovering around 7% and a poor perception of the U.S. economy.

In addition to single-family homes, the median price of condominium units and townhouses also increased to $688,000 in April. That is up from $675,000 in March and $634,000 in April 2023.

Apart from home prices, sales across California also increased month over month and year over year by single digits.

"Both sales and prices are going up despite all the speed bumps that we've had along the way with the Federal Reserve and rates going up, which is hurting purchasing power," Jordan Levine, the association's chief economist, said.

How Much Home Prices Increased by Area

The median price of homes inched up across popular metro areas in the state. The San Francisco Bay Area saw the biggest price increase year over year, up 15.5% since April 2023. Home prices in the state are now at $1,444,000 from last year's $1,250,000.

Here's a look at the regions that saw home prices increase.

Region/County

April 2024

April 2023

Year-over-year price change

Central Coast

$1,077,500

$1,020,000

5.6%

Central Valley

$493,500

$463,000

6.6%

Inland Empire

$607,000

$565,000

7.4%

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

$840,000

$740,000

13.5%

S.F. Bay Area

$1,444,000

$1,250,000

15.5%

Southern California

$880,000

$785,000

12.1%

All regions in California saw home prices go up except the Far North region, where prices dropped by 5.2% to $364,900 from last year's $385,000.

The price increase comes as home affordability in California fell to its lowest level in 16 years, per a 2023 report from the California Association of Realtors. At the time the report was published, residents needed to earn at least $222,800 to afford a median-priced home in the state.

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