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Area home prices rose at their fastest rate in nearly three years and sales were at near-record levels last month, the result of continued demand and an accommodating mortgage finance environment, a real estate information service reported.
A total of 7,412 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county region in February.
That was up 44 percent from 7,102 the month before and up 106 percent from 6,704 for February last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Last month was the second strongest February DataQuick has in its records, which go back to 1988.
The strongest was February 2000 when sales totaled 7,507.
This just goes to show that buyers will buy if they can buy, despite sticker shock.
Mortgage interest rates havent gone up as was predicted a few months ago.
And lenders are making loans to households they wouldnt have five or ten years ago, said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.
The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $457,000 last month, near Decembers record $458,000.
Last months median was up 32 percent from $443,000 in January and up 134 percent from $403,000 for February last year.
The year-over-year increase was the highest since March 2001 when the median was $386,000, up 173 percent from $329,000 a year earlier.
DataQuick, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.
The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying was $2,008 in February.
A year ago it was $1,836.
The peak was in May 2000 at $2,124.
Indicators of market distress are still largely absent.
Foreclosure rates are low, flipping rates are low, down payment sizes are stable and there have been no significant shifts in market mix, DataQuick reported.
Copyright 2001 DataQuick Information Systems.
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