COUNTY’S HOUSING PRICES CONTINUE PANDEMIC SURGE

Low interest rates lure buyers, who face tight inventory

San Diego County’s median home price hit another all-time high, $640,000, in August as Southern California prices surged amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The county has seen prices rise more than 8 percent since the pandemic took effect in March, mirroring jumps across the nation. Analysts attribute the rise to record-low interest rates motivating buyers, lack of homes on the market and increased value of homeownership as many are having to work from home.

All six Southern California counties hit new price peaks in August, said Corelogic data provided by Dqnews. San Diego County had the smallest monthly gain, 0.9 percent, of all the counties — up from the previous peak of $634,000 in July.

Mark Goldman, a real estate analyst with C2 Financial Corp., said potential home sellers who are not listing homes — out of fear of spreading the virus in their home or concern about the market — have meant intense competition and rising prices for a limited number of properties.

“It’s just punishing for

buyers to find something they can get into escrow,” he said. “It is a very strong seller’s market.”

The San Diego County home price has risen 9.4 percent in a year. Monthly payments could still seem favorable to some buyers because of low interest rates. The rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage in August was 2.94 percent, said Freddie Mac, down from 3.62 percent at the same time last year.

“If you can lock in a fixed 30-year loan for under 3 percent right now, you probably would stay in that loan for quite some time to come,” Goldman said. “It’s unlikely rates will go down to refinance.”

There were 4,122 home sales in August, around the same as last month. In April, only 2,499 sales were made.

Selma Hepp, Corelogic deputy chief economist, said the sales in August reflect pent-up demand from a lost spring buying season. She said sales would still be restricted with fewer homes on the market.

“Continually lacking forsale inventory,” she wrote, “which has been trending at around 50 percent below last year’s level in So Cal, has constrained any additional boost to home sales activity that may be seen in other parts of the state.”

From Aug. 3 to Aug. 30, the Redfin Data Center said there were 5,540 home listings. That was down from around 8,300 in 2019 and 9,000 in 2018.

The resale single-family median reached an all-time high of $715,000 in August, as did the resale condo price at $475,000. The newly built median price, which includes condos and single-family, was $689,000 — down from the record $812,500 in October 2018 when there was an increase in luxury, singlefamily homes for sale.

Evan Morris, a real estate agent based in Golden Hill, said anything from $500,000 to $700,000 is extremely competitive.

He sees many buyers motivated by the low rates and having to work at home for months.

“They are actually putting more value in the stay-at-home working situation,” he said. “They want to invest to make that more of a long-term situation.”

Morris said he recently worked with some clients to put in an offer on a singlefamily home in Redwood Village, near the College Area, for $549,000. They offered $565,000 for the three-bedroom, one-bathroom property. However, the winning bid went to a buyer willing to wave contingencies and paid $590,000 for the property.

Examples of what homes are available at the San Diego County around the median home price of $640,000:

• 1080 Park Blvd, No. 1516: A 913-square-foot condo downtown for $649,000 with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was built in 2007.

• 117 Roosevelt Ave: A four-bedroom, two-bathroom single-family house in National City for $629,950. It was built in 1950.

• 7254 Shoreline Dr., No. 130: A 997-square-foot condo in University City for $639,000 with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was built in 1990.

• 2783 Market Street: A 1,316-square-foot singlefamily house in Grant Hill for $650,000 with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was built in 1958.

Across the six-county Southern California region, home prices rose 12.1 percent annually in August.

The biggest gainer by percentage was Riverside County, which increased 13.1 percent to a median of $441,000.

It was followed by Los Angeles County, up 12.2 percent to $692,750; Orange County, up 11.6 percent to $800,000; San Bernardino County, up 9.8 percent to $380,000; San Diego County, up 9.4 percent to $640,000; and Ventura County, up 8.1 percent to $647,250.