Home prices edged higher in Southern California last month, marking the first increase since the spring of last year, according to new data from the California Association of Realtors.
The median sale price of existing single-family homes in the region was $745,000 in February, a month-over-month increase of 0.9%.
The increase can be largely attributed to higher prices in San Diego, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties since Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura counties were down month-over-month, data showed.
Southern California Median Home Prices
| County | February 2023 | January 2023 | February 2022 | Month-over-month price change | Year-over-year price change |
| Los Angeles | $726,870 | $778,540 | $773,490 | -6.6% | -6.0% |
| Orange | $1,159,000 | $1,194,500 | $1,260,000 | -3.0% | -8.0% |
| Riverside | $595,000 | $585,000 | $605,030 | 1.7% | -1.7% |
| San Bernardino | $466,500 | $446,900 | $450,000 | 4.4% | 3.7% |
| San Diego | $875,000 | $824,950 | $888,000 | 6.1% | -1.5% |
| Ventura | $805,000 | $815,000 | $887,500 | -1.2% | -9.3% |
Home prices in Southern California had been in a freefall for eight straight months dating back to May 2022 when they reached a record high of $845,000.
Statewide, the median home price was $735,480 in February, down 2.1% month-over-month and well below the record of $900,000 in May of last year.
Data also shows home sales increased significantly in February, which CAR attributes largely to stabilizing interest rates.
Sales of existing single-family homes climbed by more than 17% statewide and more than 9% in Southern California. San Bernardino County (19%) and Riverside County (14.9%) saw the largest gains.
“Mortgage rates that had been going up since the start of last year dipped in late January and early February, and we saw home buyers take advantage of that,” Oscar Wei, Deputy Chief Economist with the California Association of Realtors, told KTLA. “We still have quite a bit of demand and a lot of people waiting for the cost of borrowing to go down.”
Wei expects sales to continue to pick up as Southern California enters the typical home-buying season which begins in late March and continues into August.