County saw the steepest year-over-year sales drop among the SoCal counties
By Lily Leung
Home sales and prices in San Diego County declined in May from a year ago, in line with the rest of Southern California, DataQuick Information Systems reported Monday.
Some industry experts say the region’s real estate market continues to feel the effects of weak consumer confidence, low job creation and the absence of government incentives that boosted sales a year ago.
“(The numbers) show we’re still not in recovery territory,” said Michael Lea, director of San Diego State University’s real estate center.
San Diego County recorded 3,087 total sales in May, a 20.4 percent drop from the same time a year ago and a 5.8 percent decrease from April. DataQuick records show the local market was 27 percent below its average sales volume for a May, which is 4,257.
The median price for all home types was $324,500, falling 4.6 percent from last year but up 0.9 percent from April.
Throughout Southern California, sales remained at a three-year low in May and the median price fell by 8.2 percent, the largest year-over-year drop in 20 months, DataQuick researchers found.
One year ago, federal and state homebuyers’ tax credits played a big part in luring buyers to the market and causing sales numbers to swell in San Diego County and throughout the state. Without that “artificially induced demand,” Lea said, sales and prices fell.
“It’s just a low number,” he said. “It wasn’t that great last year historically.”
Andrew LePage, a DataQuick analyst, said some neighborhoods in San Diego and throughout the state are “really close” to their post-boom price lows in 2009, while many are about 5 percent above that level.
May’s S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, another key housing monitor, also showed home prices declining in San Diego County. Prices fell 4 percent in March, the biggest year-over-year decrease in 18 months. The Case-Shiller report, which tracks sales of the same properties, has a two-month lag.
Distressed properties continue to influence the San Diego market, LePage said. Foreclosures made up 30.9 percent of the resale market, up from 29.6 percent one year ago. About 19 percent of total sales in May were short sales, down slightly from last year, at 20.5 percent.
Other factors that analysts say are likely pushing down prices: hesitant consumers waiting for prices to bottom out, strict lending guidelines and homeowners unwilling to move because they’re severely underwater on their mortgages.
Come back to signonsandiego.com for expert weigh-in on May numbers.
Reach reporter Lily Leung at lily.leung@uniontrib.com or 619-293-1719. Follow her on Twitter @LilyShumLeung and on Facebook.
