Home sales in Southern California rose sharply in November to 19,530, up 24.5% compared with a year ago and the highest volume for the month of November since 2012, according to a report released Tuesday.
The rapid growth was driven by sales of newly built homes, including detached-houses and condos, with an increase of 17% from November 2015, according to data by CoreLogic, an Irvine, California-based information provider. The resale market, on the other hand, was closer to its historical average.
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Compared with October, however, home sales in the region, which encompasses Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties, was down 2.4%.
The reason for the year-over-year jump was attributable to an artificially weak November in 2015, said Andrew LePage, research analyst with CoreLogic.
"Federal lending rules that kicked in during October 2015 resulted in delays that caused some deals to close in December 2015 rather than November 2015," he said in the report.
| Southern California Housing Market Snapshot in November | ||||
| County | Home sales | Y-O-Y change | Median price | Y-O-Y change |
| Los Angeles | 6,450 | 23.60% | $530,000 | 8.40% |
| Orange | 2,978 | 20.90% | $660,000 | 5.90% |
| Riverside | 3,351 | 23.50% | $340,000 | 6.80% |
| San Bernardino | 2,500 | 28.30% | $295,000 | 5.70% |
| San Diego | 3,427 | 25.20% | $495,000 | 5.60% |
| Ventura | 824 | 25.20% | $525,000 | 2.90% |
| Southern California Total | 15,738 | 24.10% | $439,000 | 5.90% |
| Source: CoreLogic |
In addition, November's sales also benefited from a quirk in the calendar. "There was one more business day for transactions to be recorded this November compared with November 2015," Mr. LePage said.
The increase in transaction volumes, however, failed to push up the prices. The median price for all Southern California homes sold in November 2016 was $465,000, up 5.9% from a year ago and staying unchanged from the previous month, according to CoreLogic.
For the past two years, the region's median sale price has been rising at an annual 5% to 7% range, Mr. LePage said.
Write to Fang Block at fang.block@dowjones.com