Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Summer sales sucked

SD housing market declines in June and July hint at a bad year

While housing prices continue to increase in other parts of the state, data released this week by the California Association of Realtors shows San Diegans' appetite for homes at inflated prices is waning.

Reports from two months ago found industry experts guardedly optimistic despite challenges, including declining affordability, tighter lending restrictions, and a retreat by investors increasingly finding the market overvalued.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"Low housing affordability and stringent underwriting standards are still holding back sales," admitted association president Kevin Brown.

Earlier this year, there was hope that sales would rebound during the summer, as most home sales are typically made in spring and summer months. But continued declines in both June and July closings have set a trend indicating fewer than 400,000 sales will close statewide by year's end, making for the slowest sales year since 2008, when the market was in free-fall on the heels of a 2006 peak.

"Lackluster sales volumes so far this year should come as no surprise, given the fact that in many California counties’ houses have simply become unaffordable," said Madeline Schnapp, director of economic research with market-data firm PropertyRadar, in a report on the heels of July's housing report. Schnapp noted that the disappearance of deals to be had via short sale or at foreclosure auctions is a major factor in accounting for the decline, as such "distressed" sales made up as much as half the market two years ago.

"The decline in affordability in concert with the rapid decline in lower-priced distressed properties for sale has exacted a toll on demand."

Still, while sales continue to decline, values are up in most places. San Diego, however, saw the first decline in median prices in recent memory, with a median-priced home falling from $531,350 in June to $523,070. Only 26 percent of potential buyers within the county could afford a mortgage payment on 80 percent of that price.

As further proof of a slowdown, properties are sitting on the market longer without selling. Last year, there were enough housing units available to meet 3.3 months' worth of demand locally; that figure jumped to 4.4 months' supply by July 2014.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Quill & Arrow Law is Saving Drivers Around California with Lemon Law

While housing prices continue to increase in other parts of the state, data released this week by the California Association of Realtors shows San Diegans' appetite for homes at inflated prices is waning.

Reports from two months ago found industry experts guardedly optimistic despite challenges, including declining affordability, tighter lending restrictions, and a retreat by investors increasingly finding the market overvalued.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"Low housing affordability and stringent underwriting standards are still holding back sales," admitted association president Kevin Brown.

Earlier this year, there was hope that sales would rebound during the summer, as most home sales are typically made in spring and summer months. But continued declines in both June and July closings have set a trend indicating fewer than 400,000 sales will close statewide by year's end, making for the slowest sales year since 2008, when the market was in free-fall on the heels of a 2006 peak.

"Lackluster sales volumes so far this year should come as no surprise, given the fact that in many California counties’ houses have simply become unaffordable," said Madeline Schnapp, director of economic research with market-data firm PropertyRadar, in a report on the heels of July's housing report. Schnapp noted that the disappearance of deals to be had via short sale or at foreclosure auctions is a major factor in accounting for the decline, as such "distressed" sales made up as much as half the market two years ago.

"The decline in affordability in concert with the rapid decline in lower-priced distressed properties for sale has exacted a toll on demand."

Still, while sales continue to decline, values are up in most places. San Diego, however, saw the first decline in median prices in recent memory, with a median-priced home falling from $531,350 in June to $523,070. Only 26 percent of potential buyers within the county could afford a mortgage payment on 80 percent of that price.

As further proof of a slowdown, properties are sitting on the market longer without selling. Last year, there were enough housing units available to meet 3.3 months' worth of demand locally; that figure jumped to 4.4 months' supply by July 2014.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Vista imagines car-free downtown

Following Encinitas and Pacific Beach
Next Article

Kaylee Daugherty, Pinback, Chorduroy, Moondaddy, and Mr. Tube & the Flying Objects

Solos, duos, and full bands in Mira Mesa, Del Mar, City Heights, Little Italy, East Village
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader