San Diego real estate cools a smidge

California's red-hot housing market may finally be showing signs of cooling — just not quite yet in San Diego.

According to data released by the California Association of Realtors trade group, the state's median home price for February sales was $478,790, down 2.2 percent from January. It's the fifth drop in the six months since values statewide hit their most recent peak of $526,580, which is still below the all-time high of $577,300 in August 2006.

San Diego County, however, saw a 1.8 percent spike in prices last month, where the median single-family home was most recently reported as selling for $559,900. That's below the $591,800 recent peak, reached in May of last year.

Despite an affordability rate showing just 26 percent of San Diegans can properly budget for a home purchase, buyers are still snapping up properties at a faster clip than in January or at the same time last year. That may change soon as interest rates, which the Federal Reserve hiked last week with an eye toward future raises in the coming year, may price even more buyers out of the market and eventually apply downward pressure on values overall.

Association president Geoff McIntosh acknowledged as much in a recent press release, despite remaining optimistic about his members' prospects in the coming months.

"In the short term, the specter of higher interest rates may push buyers off the fence to purchase a home before mortgage rates move even higher."