Following up on the prior post about San Diego homes sale prices moving up, the May numbers were as expected. San Diego real estate prices continue the rising trend. MDA Dataquick reports that in May 2010 the median price of a house in San Diego County was $340,000. This is up 4.5% from the month prior, and up 15.3% from May 2009. The year-to-date median price of homes for sale in San Diego has now increased for eight consecutive months.
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.
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.
This is such positive news for San Diego as other parts of the country are reeling from the tax credit expiring and sales slumping dramatically.
Thanks for your comments! Smart home, the expiration of the tax credit won’t have too much affect on the San Diego real estate market. $8,500 was nice to help cover closing costs, but it really doesn’t mean much on the mortgage payment of the median $400,000 house. It meant a lot more to markets where house prices are $50,000 or $100,000. Still, even in San Diego, the tax credit helped get buyers off the fence when the market was slow.
Taylorsville, yes, we’re all looking forward to having fewer foreclosures and more traditional home sales. But the banks are intentionally keeping sales of San Diego foreclosure properties down to a minimum, so it will take a long time before the foreclosures go away completely.
Seeing these good numbers in your market shows a good point of development and growth. What figures out then is keeping up traditional sales and lowering foreclosure numbers in the market. Keep up the good market standing.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge i really get what i was looking for,keep it the good work going.
Great article, really helped me with my research.
Anyway after long time hearing positive results from the market. Hope to continue it in all the way of 2010
This is really surprising, because I’ve heard a lot of recent condos can’t even get a bid.
Out of curiosity. Why the slow down in the buying of foreclosures? Is it just because there aren’t as many left? Anyways, it’s nice to see the trend continue to rise. I’m sure it’s even better right now.
I would hope the trend continue to rise as well!
Condos are an interesting topic. Thank you for your comments.
Great Rene. What is your bookmark technology? Are you using Google? Let me know and I’ll follow your account. Thanks for sharing our San Diego real estate information!