Homes and Real Estate Blog

A market that has seen much back and forth and confusion amid the housing crisis in the U.S., the San Diego real estate market continues to show mixed signals, though as of late the good have outweighed the bad, suggesting that perhaps the city’s real estate sectors has hit the bottom and may be on its way back to a state of normalcy.

According to the San Diego Union Tribune, in December 2009, an index of housing prices showed that San Diego County’s home prices rose a slight 0.1% from the month preceding. This was the eight-consecutive month that the San Diego market showed an increase, the longest streak among 20 metro areas the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index monitors. The index showed that prices of San Diego homes for sale in December were up 2.7% from the same time one year earlier. The index, set at 100 for January 2000, stood at 156.29, up 8.2% from a low of 144.43 in April but still 7.6% below the record high of 250.34 set in November 2005.

Norm Miller, vice president at Costar Group, told the Union Tribune that the price per square foot fell nearly 5% in the fourth quarter of 2009, even though prices overall seemed to be rising, “Sellers are coming onto the market with slightly higher-quality properties or are being more optimistic,” Miller said. “And yet sold property prices are going down a little. So, we’re getting a gap again between buyers and sellers, and that means the inventory will start to build up again over the next couple of months — and that will continue and the market will soften a little more until we get to another wave of buyer tax credit expirations, which will hit late spring.”

In another sign for optimism, the county’s rates of foreclosures and defaults was also down from December 2009 to January 2010, though that’s not to say there aren’t any homeowners in trouble: There were 986 foreclosures and 1,741 default notices in January, down from 1,515 and 1,741, respectively, in December. Foreclosures were at their lowest level since May, while defaults were at the lowest rate since November 2008.

Though many areas in California have had a hard time weathering the real estate storm of 2008-09, the market for Santa Rosa real estate has fared better than many. Though inventory has increased and home values have fallen to a degree, the city has come out much better than many of its counterpoints in the state.

According to the California Association of Realtor’s data, in October, the prices of real estate in Santa Rosa actually rose, albeit by just 1.7%, compared with the same period of last year. Prices stood at a median of $300,000, up from $295,000 in October 2008.
Though prices are up slightly, they are still down from highs in October 2007, when prices were regularly around $450,000.

According to local realtor Beth Robertson, sales activity is up as well over the same period last year, although it is off slightly from recent highs of sales volume reached during the summer, with around 180 sales during November, up from less than 150 at the same time last year. Condominium sales, too, saw recent peaks over the summer months but have since steadied back.

The amount of inventory of homes for sale in Santa Rosa shows reason for optimism as well. The current inventory stands at just around a two months’ supply, which is considered a favorable seller’s market, and is down from a peak of a 16-month supply in October and December of 2007.