San Diego Real Estate Continues Improvement
Our local real estate market continues to show strength, especially in the lower price ranges with multiple above list price offers being written. I had 11 offers on a recent listing, 9 of them all cash from investors. The frustrating part is that families trying to buy their first home have had limited success due to the competition they face from those all cash paying buyers. That also makes it impossible for them to take advantage of the home buyer's tax credit program which only runs until the end of April.
As of today there are a total of 5,672 detached homes on the market for sale. During February 1,935 opened new escrows (some were new equity sales and others were short sales that received lender approval and moved from "contingent" to "pending"). This means we have a 2.9 month supply of detached homes, a seller's market with rising prices. If you add in the number of short sales that are awaiting lender approval another 2,472 homes went off the market that reduces the supply to 0.78 months. Turnover is slower the higher we go up in price.
There are now 2,896 attached (condo) homes on the market and 1,005 of those opened new escrows last month, giving us a 2.9 month supply in this category. Another 1,981 short sales went contingent last month giving us a total of 2,986 units with accepted offers, a cumulative 0.68 months of supply. This is an indicator of a strong market with rising prices.
As I have often said, real estate is a highly local situation. Certain markets in San Diego are stronger than others, just like San Diego might be weaker or stronger than other parts of the country. Additionally, running the statistics for various price bands also shows more specific data. Typically when a client is interested in buying a home we will run the sales data for his very specific criteria to give them the most accurate picture possible.
