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One of the great features is of the toolbar is the ability to search San Diego homes for sale on any number of websites where houses, condos, and real estate are listed.  So let’s say you are searching MLS listings on the site, or on Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow, or any of the big syndicated websites.  Then, when you find a home of interest, just click the “Ask Agent For Info” button to immediately contact the agent for additional information.  Don’t waste any more time searching for the names and phone numbers of the Realtor!  With one click you can submit your inquiry and quickly get the answers you need.

The “Search RE” box is a Google Search of important and relevant websites relating to San Diego, the real estate market, and home buying.  Let us know if you’d like a site to be added to the list of websites crawled in the Search RE box.  If it is topical, we will add it.

The “Search for Properties” tab opens a map-based search of homes for sale in any neighborhoods in San Diego County.  Mouse over the house icons to view the basic information about the house: number of bedrooms and baths, list price, etc…  Then just click on the house icon of any homes that you’d like more detailed information.

Repeating what was said above, the “Ask Agent For Info” tab allows you to quickly contact the right agent to find out details about ANY property that you find on the web.  So use this toolbar wherever you search homes for sale, and an agent is only a click away to answer questions.

The Twitter tab includes tweets from San Diego Realtors, the San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego Reader, North County Times, Del Mar Times, and others.  It’s a great way to get breaking news and opinions from the online community.  The RSS Feed includes news updates from some of these same sites.

The Facebook tab allows you to see the most recent Facebook from your own group of friends.  Send them an update and let them know that you’re using a new toolbar that makes searching for San Diego Homes a lot easier!

The toolbar uses technology from Conduit.Com.  It’s a great technology, and we’re happy to share it with you!

But rising San Diego home sales figures are not an exception.  Thirteen of the twenty metropolitan statistical areas (MSA’s) covered in the index showed price increases from a year earlier.  And all twenty MSA’s showed increases from March 2010.

This news, like recent news of San Diego homes sale prices increasing, should be read conservatively, but not ignored.  Bad-news reporters and gloomy economists are quick to dismiss the recent real estate price increases as an abnormality in light of continued foreclosures and unemployment numbers.  But the fact is, the statistics make sense.  They show San Diego houses at roughly the same values that they were at in April 2003. What is the rough value of your stock portfolio right now compared to April 2003?

The conservative caution is not to expect 11.7% increases on San Diego homes every year.  The average house appreciates roughly four percent per year.  We’ve been in a trough for a while folks; actually well below that annual four percent trend line. Now we’re getting back to the trend line. But there’s nothing wrong with talk of recovery if we’re talking about returning to a normal real estate market.

Here is the list of the 20 Cities and the change in their house value index from April 2009 to April 2010:

San Francisco 17.99%
San Diego 11.74%
Los Angeles 7.79%
Minneapolis 9.45%
Washington 7.29%
Cleveland 6.83%
Phoenix 5.37%
Boston 4.85%
Denver 4.36%
Dallas 3.34%
Atlanta 0.21%
Portland -0.41%
Miami -0.51%
New York -1.02%
Chicago -1.59%
Charlotte -2.22%
Tampa -2.36%
Seattle -2.83%
Detroit -3.02%
Las Vegas -8.52%

Still, I think it’s important to get a better idea for the Case-Shiller methodology used to determine the increase in home prices.  Here’s a general summary from the Standard & Poor’s Case Shiller website:

The “repeat sales method” used by the Case-Shiller index is considered the “most reliable means to measure housing price movements”.  The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) uses their same methodology in its reports. This involves looking at homes that have sold at least twice so that a reliable resale price can be determined.  New construction is not counted, nor are multiple unit properties such as condos or apartments.

When the resales of existing homes are identified, the Case-Shiller index compiles “matched sale pairs” of homes sold in the month the index is released and in the two prior months.  So the index released in April includes sales in February, March, and April.  Only arm’s-length transactions are included. For example, transfers between family members would be excluded. Transactions with wildly unrealistic values are excluded as suspected data errors. In an effort to compare homes of constant quality, the index also seeks to exclude properties that have been remodeled or renovated. So any homes that have been bought and sold in the preceding six-month period are excluded as suspected sales by investors “fixing and flipping” the properties.

If you enjoy reading about statistical methodology, click here to read the Case-Shiller Home Price Index Methodology. It’s actually pretty interesting (or maybe I’m just a little strange that way).  But the fact is, San Diego real estate has stabilized and is improving. There is heavy demand at the entry level.  Luxury home sales in San Diego are also increasing again, albeit at reduced prices.  And the mid-range properties priced $700,000 to $1.5 Million are also regaining their footing.  Expect more of the same news next month.

In April the rate of defaults in San Diego fell to its lowest level since January. A total of 2,105 homes went into default in April, down from 2,263 in March, and 3,371 in April 2009. That’s a 37.5 percent drop from a year earlier. Nationwide, defaults dropped by just two percent compared to a year earlier, and this is the first annual decrease in mortgage delinquencies for the nation as a whole since January 2006. So once again, the San Diego real estate market appears to be leading the trend toward stabilization and recovery.

More about the several explanations for the drop in delinquencies: First, the number of approved short sales has increased. Banks have streamlined the short sale process, and more home owners who are under water with their properties are completing sales prior to foreclosure. (Contact Anne-Marie Schiering, Certified Distressed Property Expert (C.D.P.E.) for San Diego County, with questions about short sales of homes in San Diego. Call 619-857-7203).

Second, many home owners are finally having success with refinancing their mortgages. The mortgage workouts have typically taken months to accomplish, but the loan modifications are coming through in large numbers. Kudos to the Obama administration, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, for coming through with the Hope for Homeowners.  Private banks are also stepping up with reasonable offers of loan mods and refinancing of high interest rate mortgages.  This is a reasonable move by the banks, given the fact that interest rates for conforming home loans are again below five percent.

Third, it is becoming more apparent that real estate prices have stabilized, so cooler minds are prevailing and home owners and investors are no longer rushing away from their mortgage obligations in haste to exit the market.

But while defaults are dropped, the number of San Diego foreclosures increased. There were 1,212 foreclosures in April 2010, which is a 6.6 percent increase from March, and a thirty eight percent increase from April 2009. Banks are catching up with defaults and reclaiming the properties. But the increase of foreclosures has not increased the number of foreclosure properties for sale. In fact, the foreclosure inventory has dropped from a year ago.

The consensus among San Diego real estate professionals is that the banks have made it a policy to sell their foreclosure inventory at a very slow and steady pace. Some note that banks have made profits on their purchases of mortgage-backed-securities, and therefore are not in a hurry to sell the non-performing assets. Bank of America, for example, paid less than thirty cents on the dollar for the CountryWide Home Loan portfolio, and now that portfolio is performing above expectations, valued at closer to sixty cents on the dollar. The banks are making money from loan payments, so they are in no hurry to sell San Diego homes at the bottom of the market. They expect home prices to rise over the next few years, and are willing to hold, or rent, the foreclosed properties in the interim.

The biggest surprise was that the median price of resale condos was up 18.1 percent from a year prior.  The median price of a condos sold in May 2010 was $235,000, up from $220,000 in April 2009, and $199,000 in May 2010.  Volume of condos sold was up just under twenty five percent, with 1,212 purchases in May, up from 1,040 in April, and 974 in May 2009.  The mix of condos sold has not substantially changed, so the increase in the median price is a welcome sign of stability with entry-level homes in San Diego.  This was a surprise to some who consider condos to be the last market segment to see a rise in a real estate recovery.

This San Diego canyon house for sale received multiple offers over $500K in less than a week

Single family resale houses fared almost as well as condos, with the median San Diego houses sale price up sixteen percent from a year ago.  The median price of houses in San Diego increased to $377,000 in May 2010, up from $368,000 in April 2010, and $325,000 in May 2009.  This trend has been consistent over the past year, but the median price of San Diego houses is being influenced by a change in the mix of houses sold.  More expensive neighborhoods in North County San Diego are taking a larger percentage of the homes sales volume.  Carmel Valley, Del Mar, Solana Beach, and Encinitas are attracting far more buyers than a year ago.  House prices are showing stability in these areas, but not huge price increases.  They are, however, influencing the median home price in San Diego County.

Median San Diego new homes sale prices also improved in May 2010, up just under five percent from April 2010, but still down sixteen percent from May 2009.  The median price of new homes stood at $340,000 in May 2010, up from $325,000 in April 2010, but down from $476,000 in May 2009.  New home builders are reporting higher optimism in the San Diego County, with new releases of houses in Rancho Bernardo/Del Sur, and in Chula Vista/ Eastlake.  The volume of new homes sold jumped a whopping 67.7% from April, to 332 units, but this still represents very low volume by historical standards.  Builders have also scaled back on house sizes and reduced prices to spur sales, so we expect to see prices remain lower for the near term.

San Diego foreclosures are still popular, but dropping as a percentage of the houses sold in the county.  Just under thirty percent of San Diego houses sold in May were foreclosure properties.  This is the lowest percentage since November 2007.  Traditional sales are picking up where the foreclosures are leaving off.  Interest rates are again down to under 5%, and that is pulling a lot of people off the fence.  If rates remain low, look for San Diego house prices to continue to rise over the Summer months.

Construction resumes on San Diego homes. Sale prices of new homes trailing resale condos and houses.

The San Diego real estate market has greatly improved in 2010.  San Diego homes sale prices are up double-digits from year ago levels, led by resale houses and condos.  Surveys of home builders and consumers are showing a return to confidence.  The San Diego economy is again proving its resilience.

According to DataQuick, the median price of a home in San Diego was $325,250 in April 2010, compared to $290,000 in April 2009.  That is 12.2 percent increase.  Resale condos have seen the biggest rise, from a median of $182,000 in April 2009 to $220,000 in April 2010 (up 20.9%) while the median price of houses sold in San Diego rose from $325,000 in April 2009 to $368,000 (up 13.2%) during the same period.  New homes are the exception, as builders continue to cut prices in order to remain competitive with the resale market. The median price of a new homes in San Diego decreased from $438,000 to $442,750 (-6%) in the past year.

And even the new home builders are stating optimism about the future.  The National Association of Home Builders just released their survey of builder confidence, called the NAHB – Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.  For the Western region, the May 2010 index is at 20.  Nationwide the index rose to 22 (up from 19 in April), putting the index at its highest level since August 2007. In San Diego, new homes are again being built to meet renewed demand in Del Sur, Rancho Bernardo.  Houses in Rancho Penasquitos, and in Chula Vista / Otay Lake are also under once again construction.

Looking to the future, there is reason to believe that the San Diego real estate market will continue to rise along with the overall economy.  The high-tech, biotech, and medical industries in San Diego are adding a lot of new jobs.  Qualcom is staffing up in expectation of the release of the new iPhone which will be compatible with the Qualcom CDMA technology. The genetics research labs are experiencing phenomenal growth with new products and research grants.  UCSD is building a new hospital.  These are high-paying jobs, and will result in more demand for San Diego homes.

Inventory of homes for sale remains low in most low-to-moderately priced San Diego neighborhoods.  There has been no flood of San Diego foreclosures for sale.  Foreclosure properties are being released very slowly by the banks, and the foreclosures that are being released for sale are consistently receiving multiple offers.  Home buyers are actually finding it very difficult to find and buy homes in the median price range.
The San Diego home sales figures for June are expected this week.  Come back for an update or call the San Diego real estate professionals at Keller Williams for answers to your specific questions.

In this short one minute video, Anne-Marie Schiering of Keller Williams Realty shows the results of the hard work and generous donations from the San Diego community.  The event is called “Red Day”, a day when Keller Williams agents Give Back to Our Communities.

Food donations were received from Carmel Valley, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, Encinitas, Cardiff, Carlsbad, La Jolla, University City, Rancho Penasquitos, Clairemont, and throughout San Diego County.  Your Keller Williams real estate agents also took posts outside area grocery stores including Vons and Ralphs, where we received tremendous support from the community.  We can’t thank you enough for your donations!

The community-centered philosophy of Keller Williams Realty is just one of the reasons that ours is the best real estate brokerage in the United States.  Red Day is a nationwide event for Keller Williams agents.  In addition to food drives, our agents build homes for Habitat for Humanity, pick up trash in parks, lakes and rivers, renovate houses in communities that have been hit hard with foreclosures, and pitch in wherever the communities need it most.  For more information about Red Day and Keller Williams philosophies in general, please visit KW.com.

Geoff & Anne-Marie Schiering, Keller Williams Carmel Valley Real Estate

Special thanks go to our friends at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Del Mar, to neighbors in Rancho Penasquitos, and to our past clients.  When we made the call that we “could use your help” so many of you responded that we were deeply moved by your friendship.  Again, thank you for your support!  We truly could not have done this without you.

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Let’s stay in touch on Facebook! Click the link to the left. Visit Geoff & Anne-Marie’s San Diego Luxury Homes Facebook Fan Page and click “Like” to become a fan. Thanks again!

The National Association of Realtors reported this week that resale prices of homes in San Diego increased by 14.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010. The median price of San Diego homes now stands at $379,000. According to the NAR, this year San Diego has experienced the 16th fastest rate of appreciation of any metropolitan area in the United States. The top-10 metripolitan areas in terms of real estate price increases are: 1) Saginaw, MI; 2) Akron, OH; 3) Cleveland, OH; 4) San Francisco, CA; 5) Grand Rapids, MI; 6) San Jose, CA; 7) Dayton, OH; 8th) Memphis, TN; 9) Gary, IN; and 10) Elmira, NY.

Home prices increased in almost 60% of the cities in the United States this year. The $8,000 Federal Homebuyer Tax Credit definitely contributed to the increases, but with the expiration of the Federal tax credits on April 30 the demand for homes has not abated. And in California, beginning on May 1 home buyers are still able to claim a $6,500 state tax credit for home purchases, on a first-come-first-served basis until the money runs out.

According to the Zillow Home Value Index, in March 2010 San Diego CA homes increased in value by 3.7%, to $364,800 from March 2009. This was the biggest upward change of any metropolitan area in the United States. The other big gainers and their current price levels are San Francisco (up 3.4% to $515,300), Los Angeles (up 3.3% to $415,300), Ventura (up 2.9% to $413,800), Santa Barbara (up 2.6% to $444,900), and Denver (up 2.3% to $212,900). This shows two things. First, there is still huge demand for real estate in California, where the weather and economy are better than just about anywhere in the country. Second, even after the recent price gains, San Diego, which is probably the best place to live in California, is still more affordable than the other major metropolitan areas in the state.

A third gauge of real estate activity comes from MDA Dataquick, which tracks home sales as recorded in the tax records. By their measure, the median price of San Diego homes increased 14.3% in the first quarter of 2009, to a median price of $360,000. Dataquick reported 8,014 home sales in San Diego County in the first quarter, which is 0.8 percent more sales than the first quarter of 2009.

As personal perspective from your San Diego real estate professionals, we’re seeing inventories and average time on market drop as home buyers have returned in earnest to the market. Home sellers who are realistic with their asking prices are having no problems selling their properties. Upper-end San Diego homes for sale in Carmel Valley, Del Mar, La Jolla, and Rancho Santa Fe are moving again, as jumbo loans are again available at very attractive rates. Home buyers are sensing the turnaround in the market and are grabbing deals while prices are down and interest rates remain low. The combination of low interest rates and low prices won’t last for long.