What's the News on San Diego Real Estate?

Today's Headlines:

Bloomberg - Southern California Home Prices Fall on Foreclosures

San Diego Union Tribune - Sign of Optimism: Home Prices Rise

Forbes – The Real Estate Bubble Won't Re-inflate

Ventura County Star – County Median Home Price Increases from March



What's the "REAL" story?

All of the above!

According to Real Estate industry data provider Altos Research here is the raw data:

The median single family home price in San Diego for May 17 is $526,903.
This is up from a low of about $440,000 in early November 2008 and has sharply increased since the end of February.

Average Days on Market (DOM) for listed homes has continued to escalate from a low of 80 in October 2008 to the current 117 DOM. This trend has not seen a deviation.

Available houses on the market has declined from a high of 3,500 in July, 2008 to 2,288 as of May 17, 2009.

So to sum up: sale prices are increasing, it is taking longer to sell homes and there are fewer homes to sell.

San Diego homes for sale

If you look at the foreclosures currently available in San Diego, which are currently numbered at 9,788 versus the 3,953 homes currently on the market for the area, you have another perspective.

Foreclosures and short sales have been leading the market for investors and first time home buyers taking advantage of the best pricing and financing available in over twenty years. This in turn, is stabilizing the low end of the market and stopping pricing declines. In some communities there are being multiple offers submitted and the asking prices for these categories are being overbid.

We are seeing the market at work in its most fundamental form.

Micro-markets are also a major factor as some communities adjacent to each other have drastically disparate statistics right now.

As long as you don;t have a home to sell, opportunities abound right now, especially with the incentives for first time home buyers (defined as a person who has not owned real estate in the last three years).

The Real Effects of the Housing Industry Downturn

The three major sectors related to housing are in the midst of a slump not seen since the early 90’s. Construction, Real Estate Finance, and Retail have all seen their rate of growth decline to pre-Clinton eras. Unemployment levels have shot up to 8.6%, a 2% contraction year-over-year.

The graph above was taken from the blog, piggington.com. Check out their site for more in depth analysis on the San Diego Real Estate Market

Some cities have been hit harder than others, below is a list of cities in San Diego that have been hit hardest according to sandiegoatwork.com’s December forecast:


National City- 14.4%
Imperial City- 11.9%
El Cajon- 10.1%
Bostonia-CDP 9.4%
Chula Vista 8.6%
Vista 8.2%

San Diego Foreclosure Report January 2009

According to research firm Realty Trac, San Diego County experienced 6,138 January foreclosures. A year over year increase of 13%. However, January foreclosures were down 8% against December, a decrease that’s largely attributed to new state regulation that recently became effective. A similar trend was seen last fall, when new regulations caused foreclosure filings drop off in October, only to come surging back in December.

"Smoke Free Apartment Buildings?"

First, smoking was banned in planes, restaurants were soon to
follow, and if activists have there way apartment buildings will be
next.
Health advocates point out that less than 14 percent of Californians
smoke cigarettes, making the state a prime target for policy change.
Activists in San Diego and National City are pushing elected officials
to enact laws against smoking in apartments and condos. Others are
promoting voluntary policies to landlords and management companies