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Featured Listing of the Week
A Mid-Century Masterpiece! Legendary San Diego Mid-Century Architect Loch Crane, an understudy of Frank Lloyd Wright, selected this strategic view lot on Avenida Chamnez to construct his personal residence. Implementing Wright's trademark Hexagonal forms, this property uses architectural intrigue and irreplicable lot position to enhance the unobstructed and expansive views of the Pacific Ocean and beyond. How stunning!
In the News
People are tired of waiting - San Diego home price hits all-time high even as mortgage rates rise - San Diego Union Tribune
San Diego County’s median home price has hit another record high of $865,000 — despite rising mortgage rates. The median price was up 9.5 percent in a year in March, said CoreLogic data released Monday and up from the previous peak of $850,000 in November. San Diego County was part of a trend of rising home prices across Southern California as dedicated buyers competed over few homes for sale.
Alan Gin, economist at the University of San Diego, said prices would likely continue to rise because current homeowners have locked in lower mortgage rates and are not eager to sell, keeping inventory low. A nationwide survey of homeowners last week found nearly 40 percent of homeowners said they couldn’t afford their home if they were to try and buy it today.
In the last week of March, the average interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.79 percent. It had risen to 7.43 percent by Monday morning, said Mortgage News Daily.
Interest rates have made a large difference in buying a home at San Diego’s median home price in just two years. If a buyer purchased a home at the median in March 2022 — $805,000 — with interest rates at that time, 4.67 percent, the monthly cost would be about $3,753 (assuming 20 percent down). In March’s numbers, the monthly cost would be roughly $4,932.
There were roughly 3,600 homes for sale in San Diego County in March, up from around 3,000 at the same time last year. However, sales are down from nearly 6,000 in the summer of 2022 before interest rates rose to 6 percent.
Rising rates are playing out somewhat differently in other parts of the nation. For instance, parts of Florida and Texas have seen surges in homes for sale and stagnating prices. Part of the reason for the difference is more homes are being built. In 2022, according to Census numbers, Texas issued 263,054 residential building permits and Florida had 211,962. That compares to 119,667 in California.
Not everything can be attributed to homebuilding, especially in Florida, which has seen the biggest increase in inventory. The state has seen large increases in home insurance costs, brought on by extreme weather events, wrote Newsweek, which have prompted some owners to leave.
Here’s how different home types fared in March:
- Resale single-family: Median of $975,000 with 1,439 sales. It is a new high, up from the previous peak of $956,000 in August.
- Resale condo: Median of $689,000 with 756 sales, which was a new price peak. The previous was $683,000 in February.
- New construction: Median of $813,000 with 69 sales. This figure combines single-family homes, townhouses and condos. It was down from a peak of $1.2 million in July, when there was an influx of newly built single-family homes, lifting the median higher.
All markets in Southern California saw price increases in March.
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