Housing recovery loses momentum in California as February sales fall

California’s housing market recovery continued to lose velocity in February.

Home sales dipped 0.6% statewide last month from January and fell 10.6% from February of last year as prices continued to tick upward, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.

The median home price in the state hit $355,000, up 0.6% from January and 22.8% from the same month last year.

INTERACTIVE MAP: Southern California home prices

February was the 24th straight month with year-over-year price gains in California, and the monthly payment on the average mortgage has climbed about $350 in the last year, to $1,405 in February, compared with $1,053 a year earlier.

Those growing costs, coupled with a still-tight supply of homes, are slowing home sales across the state.

A separate DataQuick report on Southern California released Wednesday found sales down 12% from last year, with prices up by 19.7% from last February but flat since interest rates began climbing last summer.

Prices have continued to climb in the Bay Area, growing 2.9% just in February, according to DataQuick, but tight inventory is taking its toll there, too.

Across California, the number of foreclosure and short sales, which fueled much of the activity during the recovery of the last few years, has fallen sharply. Just 8.2% of statewide sales in February were recent foreclosures; 9.6% were short sales. Both rates were more than twice as high this time last year.

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