Southland home prices soar 24.7% in May from a year earlier

Southern California’s housing recovery surged last month as buyers scrambled for a short supply of homes.

The median price reached $368,000 for all homes sold in the six-county Southland — a 24.7% increase from the same month a year earlier and the highest price in five years. The number of sales, 23,034, hit the highest level for a May in seven years, real estate information provider DataQuick said Tuesday.

“We’re deep into uncharted territory,” DataQuick President John Walsh said, citing “razor-thin” inventory, pent-up demand, low interest rates and all-cash purchases by investors and wealthy individuals. “How this all plays out is educated guesswork at this point.”