Following is a summary of real estate activity in San Diego County for the last month. As many of you know we do not include "Sold" data since so many of those escrows, especially with the long process short sales, actually went under contract months ago and do not reflect market momentum as it is now. We use new "Pending" and new "Contingent" contracts since they are new activity.
It looks like the expiration of the Federal Tax Credit has had an effect on activity in San Diego as it has in many markets. The number of new escrows is down and we'll have to see how that plays out over the next few months. California still has a $10,000 tax credit in place.
Detached Homes: 7,057 homes are now on the market, up from 6,547 last month and an increase of about 8%. The number of new escrows opened last month was 1,677, down from 2,235 the prior month. This gives us a 4.2 month supply of homes on the market, up from 2.9 last month. Usually 4 months of supply means prices are in the neutral range. Additionally, 2,496 homes went "Contingent" (short sales under contract but awaiting lender approvals). When you add this number to the number of new "pendings" we show 4,174 homes went under contract, giving us less than 2 months of supply and a strong market. Keep in mind that some homes move from "contingent" to "pending" in the same month as lenders approve them.
Attached Homes: 3,360 units are now on the market, up from 3,215 last month and 876 went under contract, down from 1,210 a month ago. This gives us 3.8 months of inventory which means prices are neutral. When we add back in the new "Contingents" another 2001 units went under contract for a total of 2,877 units giving us about 1.1 months of inventory and a market with rising prices.
It looks like the expiration of the US Tax Credit has slowed the San Diego market somewhat but still leaves our activity at neutral or positive levels.
R. Ungar, Associate Broker – Keller Williams Realty
