Features

LOS ANGELES — The cost of home ownership in California broke another barrier in March, with the median home price topping $300,000 for the first time, according to industry figures released Thursday. 

Market activity continued to surge during March as sales of preowned homes increased 13.1 percent and the median home price rose 18.8 percent compared with a year ago, the California Association of Realtors said. 

The median home price in the state hit $305,940 in March, up from $289,550 in February. The median price increased 18.8 percent from $257,550 in March 2001. 

The real estate market performed strongly across almost all regions of the state and in all price brackets, with the upper end market showing renewed vigor for the first time in months, said CAR president Robert Bailey. 

“It’s a very opportune time to buy. There’s nothing out there to indicate that this is a bubble or an anomaly,” said Bailey, who owns three independent real estate offices in Santa Cruz. 

Ongoing low interest rates played a key role in driving the market, with buyers wanting to make their move before any increase. Adjustable mortgage interest rates averaged just 5.09 percent in March compared to 6.28 percent a year earlier, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. 

Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates have increased slightly year over year, averaging 7.07 percent in March, compared with 6.95 percent in March 2001. 

Sales of detached California homes totaled 586,230 in March on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, CAR reported. 

That figure compares with 518,410 a year earlier and represents what the total number of home sales would be during the year if sales maintained their March pace throughout the year. 

It would take only 2.3 months to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate, compared with 3.5 months last year, according to CAR. 

The torrid pace of the market is good news for home owners, but it raises affordability concerns for others in a state where less than one-third of households have enough money to own a home — the lowest share in the country after New York and Hawaii. 

Experts warn that without affordable housing, it will become difficult for the economy to keep growing. 

“Affordable housing is still one of our biggest challenges,” said Paul Saldana, a board member of the California Association for Local Economic Development and chief executive of the Tulare County Economic Development Corp. “But there is still a lot of affordability in various job centers in the state,” he said, including Riverside and San Bernardino.