Category Archives: Real Estate

San Diego – Home prices down annually for first time in 7 years… but sales are up

Posted on September 26, 2019 | Leave a comment

San Diego County’s median home price in August was down annually for the first time in seven years, albeit a small reduction, real estate tracker CoreLogic said Wednesday.

The median price of $584,000 was down 0.1 percent from the same time last year at $584,500. The last time prices were down year-over-year was March 2012.

On the flip side, there were signs the housing market was picking up in August. There were 3,835 home sales, up 1.9 percent from the same time last year. That’s after annual sale declines for the majority of the year.

San Diego County is not alone in the slowdown, with sluggish price gains across the nation — especially in high cost markets — for most of the year. Analysts have cited affordability constraints, changes in the tax code and comparatively slower wage growth as reasons.

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San Diego annual home price gains up as of July

Posted on September 25, 2019 | Leave a comment

Home prices were up 2 percent annually in the San Diego metropolitan area as of July, said the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices released Tuesday.

The increase was a slight turn of fortunes for the market, which has had annual gains of around 1 percent since January. Still, it is a far cry from the heyday of price increases the last couple of years. In July 2018, San Diego home prices were up 6.2 percent in a year.

Home price gains have slowed nationwide, up 3.2 percent in a year, with experts pointing to affordability issues as the main culprit. The most expensive markets have the most slothful gains, and Seattle has seen prices decline 0.6 percent.

Among California metro areas, San Diego had the biggest annual gains. San Francisco prices were up 0.2 percent in a year, and Los Angeles up 1.1 percent.

Some of the markets hit hardest by the Great Recession are now seeing the biggest boosts. Phoenix metro area gains were up 5.8 percent, followed by Las Vegas at 4.7 percent and San Francisco at 0.2 percent.

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San Diego – Zillows want to buy your home

Posted on September 10, 2019 | Leave a comment

The catch is the fee charged by Zillow averaged 7.5 percent last quarter on the sale price of a home, higher than the 5 to 6 percent a seller may pay a real estate agent.

Real estate website Zillow launched an instant-buying program Monday in San Diego County that will give users quick cash offers on their homes.

The Zillow Offers program — already in 16 other markets — charges a convenience fee instead of a commission that a seller might pay a real estate agent, but Zillow will handle the cleaning and repairs and also remove the stress of open house showings.

The catch is the fee charged by Zillow averaged 7.5 percent last quarter on the sale price of a home, higher than the 5 to 6 percent a seller may pay a real estate agent.

It’s possible the seller could be leaving money on the table with Zillow. Or not. On the one hand, a smaller fee from a real estate agent and a boots-on-the-ground approach could net more cash. But Zillow’s fee will include all the cleaning and minor repairs needed on the house, something an agent would likely ask the seller to do anyway — and pay for — so it might be a wash.