Median Home Price Dips In RivCo, But Banning-Beaumont Differ

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — The median price of a single-family home in Riverside County dipped last month, along with sales of existing homes, the California Association of Realtors reported Wednesday.

The median home price countywide in January was $415,460, compared to $420,000 in December, representing a 1.1 percent drop, according to CAR.

On a year-over-year level, the price was about 4 percent higher; in January 2019, the median price of an existing single-family property was $400,000, according to CAR data.

Statewide, the median price last month was $575,160, compared to $614,880 in December — down 6.5 percent. In January 2019, the median price was $536,830, reflecting a year-over-year rise of 7 percent.

The median represents the point at which half of homes sell above a price, and the other half below it.

CAR Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young said the real estate market was rattled at the beginning of the year, like other markets, by the worldwide onset of the novel coronavirus originating from China.

"With interest rates on a declining trend again due to concerns about the impact of the coronavirus, motivated buyers will have an opportunity to stretch their purchasing power in the housing market," she said. "The economic outlook, however, is less clear than a month ago, before the outbreak of the disease, and we should expect market uncertainties to continue to linger on for the short term."

Last month, home sales countywide sank 11.6 percent, but they were up about 16 percent year-to-year, according to CAR.

The association's Unsold Inventory Index for January indicated that the median time a property was on the market before it sold in California was 31 days. In Riverside County, it was 39 days.
The average price per square foot for an existing single-family home in California last month was $275 — $12 more than in January 2019.

As of Wednesday, the median list price for a single family home in Banning is $279,500; one month ago it was $279,750, according to the website Movoto.

However, for the same time period, the median list price for a single family home in Beaumont is up. As of Wednesday, it is $371,712 compared to $359,500 one month ago, according to Movoto.

—City News Service contributed to this report.