California Home Sales to Climb 1% Next Year, Realtors Forecast

Sales of existing homes are expected to rise to 496,200units from a projected 491,100 in 2011 and 491,500 last year,the Los Angeles-based group said in a statement. Realtors Peerce, presidentof the California association, said in the statement. The state ranks second nationally, after Nevada, inthe pace of foreclosure filings. One of every 226 homes receiveda notice of default or was subject to a foreclosure sale inAugust, RealtyTrac Inc. It will take as long as five years for the state'sinventory of foreclosed properties to be absorbed, Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Associationof Realtors, said in a conference call today. It will be"closer to five in the inland areas, where I don't think we'veseen a lot of the supply that's going to come through comethrough," she said. The California Realtors' forecast for this year was loweredfrom 505,000 sales projected in June and 502,000 in October.