The San Diego housing market is heating up, with home prices and sales rising. According to a report from cnbc.com, this is clearly a "moving up" scenario of homeowners throughout the area.
This phenomenon was accentuated by the California Association of Realtors' Chief Economist Leslie Appleton Young, who said, "While it's a welcome sign to see the growth in housing demand continue, the lack of supply remains a concern. The imbalance between the two sides not only intensifies market competition and pushes home prices higher, but also leads to housing affordability issues that could ultimately lower the homeownership rate if the problem persists."
According to a report from timesofsandiego.com, the median price of a single-family home bought and sold in May was pegged at $530,000. This is $10,000 higher than April's median price and about $35,000 higher than last year's median price for the same month. On the other side of the spectrum, the total number of units sold in May was 2,091, about 10 percent less than April 2015 and 4 percent less than May 2014.
San Diego Realtor's Association (SDAR) board president Chris Anderson remarked, "The market continues to thrive and there are good deals out there, but buyers need to be prepared to act quickly." He added, "Rents are rising and there's not enough rental units to meet demand, so we believe we will see more first-time buyers enter the housing market this summer."
The SDAR projects about two and a half months inventory available, where a healthy inventory would be at half a year, according to a report from sandiego6.com. Currently, the most expensive home recently sold in the San Diego market was a six-bedroom and six-bath home in Del Mar coast measuring 4,000 square feet. The price was at $11 million.
