Written by Andrew Morris
As Gavin Newsom announces a lift on California’s mask mandate on June 15th, the Coronavirus Pandemic appears to be coming to a close in San Diego. Yet as one crisis is ending, San Diego is at the cusp of another, according to some experts.
San Diego County’s housing market is the highest it has ever been, accumulating to a median of $825,120 this April, an increase of $25,000 from last month. Almost $150,000 from April of last year at $671,000. This rise mirrors California as a whole whose median went above $800,000 for the first time.
“Not only do skyrocketing home prices threaten already-low homeownership levels and make it harder for those who don’t already have a home to purchase one, but it also brings to question the sustainability of this market cycle,” states California Realtors Vice President Jordan Levine. “As vaccination rates increase and the state reopens fully, higher home prices will hopefully entice prospective sellers who have held off putting their homes on the market during the pandemic to feel more comfortable listing their homes for sale, which would alleviate pressure on home prices.”
Indeed, people’s hope is driving house sales not only to a high price but also to the lowest ever sale time in California history, at a median of seven days. Additionally, the Southern California region has an escalated median home price at $750,000, which is a 6.4% increase from last month at $705,000. This is a surmountable 65.5% increase from last year at $583,000, which is still only the third-largest increase in the state; the largest being in the San Francisco Bay area, whose median price went up from $1.225 million to $1.3228 million last month.
“California continues to experience one of the hottest housing markets as homes sell at the fastest pace ever, with the share of homes sold above asking price, the price per square foot, and the sales-to-list price all at record highs, while active listings remain at historic lows,” C.A.R. President Dave Walsh said.
“The high demand and shortage of homes for sale, driven by these market factors, continued to drive up home prices and shatter the record-high set just last month,” he added.
The bloated house and sale medians hint at a potential crash in the near future, as the chasm between the cost of living and fiscal wealth increases in San Diego, in addition to an employment rate that still has not recovered from the initial coronavirus shutdowns.
Furthermore, C.A.R. reported that housing affordability statewide is on par with that of mid-2018, fundamentally lower than in recent years. The median of single-family affordability in the first three months of 2021 decreased to 27% from 35% at the same time last year.
For more information regarding the C.A.R. report, consult http://www.car.org/marketdata/data/countysalesactivity.
