CA October Home Sales: Adjusted for Inflation, Typical Mortgage Payment Now Lowest On Record

From DQ News on California October Home Sales:

"An estimated 34,087 new and resale houses and condos were sold in California last month. That was down 3.7 percent from 35,404 in September, and up 4.3 percent from 32,669 for October 2010. California sales for the month of October have varied from a low of 25,832 in 2007 to a high of 70,152 in 2003, while the average is 43,528. DataQuick's statistics go back to 1988. 

The median price paid for a home last month was $240,000, down 3.6 percent from $249,000 in September, and down 6.3 percent from $256,000 for October a year ago. The median has decreased on a year-over-year basis for the last thirteen months. The bottom of the current cycle was $221,000 in April 2009, while the peak was at $484,000 in early 2007. Distressed property sales – the combination of foreclosure resales and “short sales” – continued to make up more than half of California’s resale market.

The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $924, the lowest since early 1999. That was down from $964 in September, and down from $1,005 in October 2010. It was 58.8 percent below the spring 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle. It was 66.6 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006."

MP: Here's the most amazing part of the report: "Adjusted for inflation, last month's mortgage payment was the lowest on record."