The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area rose at its fastest pace on record in June, according to DataQuick, while the number of total sales fell.
The median price is the numerical value separating the higher half of total sales from the lower half.
That figure last month was $555,000, up 6.9 percent from $519,000 in May, and up 33.1 percent from $417,000 in June 2012, according to the real estate data service.
The Bay Area median price peaked at $665,000 in June and July 2007, then plunged to $290,000 in March 2009. From October 2008 to April 2009 the year-over-year drop for each month exceeded 40 percent. Much of the median's ups and downs can be attributed to shifts in the types of homes sold. When adjusting for these shifts, it appears that three fourths of June’s 33.1 percent year-over-year rise reflects an increase in home values, while the rest is the result of a change in market mix.
Factors cited by DataQuick in last month’s rise include disappearing distress sales, an improving economy, and mortgage rates that remain very low. The number of transactions fell as a slow-growing supply of homes for sale continued to fall short of demand and purchases by cash and investor buyers eased.