Average Price Jumps 4.4% in August : Home Sales Still on a Streak, TRW Data Shows

August was another hot month for home sales in Orange County, with the average price of a home jumping 4.4% to $211,074.

Volume rose to 5,632 houses and condominiums sold in August, up 3% from July, TRW Real Estate Market Information reported Monday.

Heavy demand for housing has pushed prices up all year across California, and Orange County has been one of the state’s hottest housing markets.

Similar figures for the entire state were unavailable Monday, the market research firm said.

New and Used

TRW’s survey includes all houses--both new and used--and all the condominiums and townhouses sold in the county.

TRW’s average price is generally lower than a median home price reported each month by the California Assn. of Realtors, which surveys resales of detached, single-family houses in several areas of the county. The association has not yet reported its August figures.

Over the last year, the average price of houses and condos in the county has risen by nearly a third, according to TRW.

In August, 1987, the average price of a home in the county was $160,988. Sales totaled 5,342 houses and condos that month.

Sales Declined

Orange County also stood out in the monthly survey because while prices also rose in other Southern California counties, the number of sales in most of them declined.

But some experts say that a combination of rising interest rates and prices so high that they squeeze buyers out of the market will bring the boom to an end this year or next.

At last count, only 18% of the county’s families theoretically could afford to buy a median-priced single-family house with a 20% down payment.

August, however, was a big jump over July, when 5,467 houses or condos were sold and the average price was $202,116.