Happy 4th, Mom

My mother was born on the Fourth of July – so this will be our first without her. It was a particularly tough month – not only did my mother pass away in early June, but Richard also lost his mom this past Monday.

We had my mom’s funeral service at St. Leo’s Church in Oakland, the same church where my parents were married and where my dad and grandparents also had their final mass. It’s the church we attended whenever we were in town, and after mass, the kids would always drag our parents over to Fenton’s Creamery for an ice cream. After my mom’s funeral service, we re-lived our past and went over for an ice cream again.

In her honor, I’m going to get an ice cream today too. I love you Mom!

Great-grandsons

Just Wait?

This agent is expressing the same thoughts being told to sellers all across the country today. The vast majority of realtors have only known a raging seller’s market over the last 15 years, and they don’t know any different.

But what if the buyers don’t come?

It’s why I’m certain that sales will start suffering long before anyone thinks about lowering their price. Hope the sellers don’t mind the wait and inconvenience.

Sellers deserve to know that it’s possible we’re at the all-time peak. As boomers age out, home pricing could start a slow, gradual decline – especially if we’re out of buyers willing to pay $2 million for a 30-yr old tract home in Carlsbad.

Because buyers are on their own now, they will probably just buck up eventually and pay the seller’s price – unless they wait long enough for more sellers to get antsy and one of them undercuts the existing unsolds to get out.

Current Home Pricing

These graphs are updated on the first of the month so these are the latest numbers and they are interactive so you can scroll over to see the individual data.

These are tracking the Coastal North region of SD County. You can see the average and median cost-per-sf is dropping significantly for it being in the prime April-June period.

It’s why I think we are going to muddle through the rest of the year.


Instead, the adjustment will be in the number of sales, as sellers continue hold out on price but fewer homes being worthy of purchase in the eyes of the buyers.

If you think the inventory surge in 2025 was significant, wait ’til next year!

Blur Your Home

Some homeowners in Southern California are taking a unique step to deter break-ins: blurring their homes on Google Maps. The move is simple but strategic.

By obscuring their home from Street View, they aim to make it harder for would-be burglars to digitally scout things like entry points, security cameras, or signs of high-value items.

According to police and crime experts, criminals frequently use tools like Google Maps to case homes before deciding which ones to hit.

Here is how to blur your own home:

  1. Go to Google Maps on a desktop (not the mobile app).
  2. Enter your address and drag the little yellow figure to the street for Street View.
  3. In the top-left corner, click “Report a problem.”
  4. Fill out the form, positioning the blur box over your home and explaining why you want it blurred.

Google will review the request, and once it’s approved, the blur is permanent.

While experts agree it can boost privacy and reduce risk, one criminologist noted it could backfire by signaling that something valuable is being hidden.

It’s a simple action that could give homeowners peace of mind.

Half-Year Report

I asked a few local real estate professionals what they thought about the current market conditions, and where the market might be going.

The two big title companies, First American and Fidelity (which insures 13-15 other title companies) said that the year-over-year numbers are steady/flat and they expect a slight increase over the rest of the year.

Alonzo said that the inventory is 28% above long-term norms. Price cuts are 18% above long-term norms, indicating increased pressure on sellers to reduce prices. Interest rates are hovering around 6.7% putting downward pressure on buyer demand. Don’t anticipate interest rates to drop till 2026. In short homes prices will slightly drop this second half of the year, with more buyer selection.

Anna, who runs the local transaction-coordinating company, said 2023, 2024, and 2025 have all felt very similar to her (me too). Her volume is steady.

Local realtor Tanya said she hopes the rest of 2025 is less uncertain than the first chaotic half! Her main thoughts are that there’s always a market, hot or soft, there’s always buyers and sellers. This year does feel different though – with the political chaos and slack consumer confidence and non-budging rates – so a less-motivated buyer pool could be a very hard pill to swallow for some sellers after years of being in the drivers seat.

Laker Joe said he’s experiencing longer market times, but if it’s single family, priced right and in great shape in a good location, then you could have multiple offers. If not, it’s gonna take a bit. Definitely more of a traditional market. And with the number of cancellations; listing agents definitely want to work with other reputable agents that will get across the finish line with their Buyers.

I thought the last two comments were very pertinent.

Even though sales have been holding up nicely, I think it’s going to get tougher, Specifically, the third quarter of 2025 is likely to be very different than usual.

I think we are due for a 25% plunge in 3Q sales.

Here’s why:

  1. Too many listings.
  2. Too many picked-over listings.
  3. Rates aren’t changing enough.
  4. The best 2025 buyers have bought a house by now.
  5. The remaining buyers want a deal.

Sellers are slow to adjust on price. Because the remaining inventory is down to the picked-over and somewhat-inferior homes (judging by them being unsold), their prices need more correction than before. They need a strong correction – like 10% in July, which just about every seller will resist.

It’s why I think there will only be around 400 sales in 3Q25.

Today, there are 162 pendings, so 400 sales over the next 3 months is possible. Any plunge in sales will be a reflection of how much sellers resist lowering their price, how willing buyers are to making lowball offers, and the agents’ ability to create deals that eventually close escrow.

You can probably understand why I have my doubts!

It won’t change the likelihood that January and February will be red hot again, and even the 4Q25 sales will be decent as the new reality gets collaborated into play. With a 25% plunge in 3Q sales, the annual count will only be -4% under the total sales in 2024.

But the 3Q is where the price discovery will be occurring.

Because sales are the precursor, they need to dip before the pricing gets fully affected. But pricing is already softer, so it will be in the 3Q that the final impact/correction on values takes place to get pricing where it needs to be for the 2026 January-February Selling Season.

Current Market Conditions

More on the market conditions being observed around the country:

JtR: I don’t see many buyer-agents showing properties at all. Open-house traffic is spotty at best and mostly lookers with casual interest. Homes are still selling but sales will likely slow the rest of the year, starting now. The NSDCC sales for June will be 10% to 15% fewer than last June.

https://x.com/newslambert/status/1939663963005788665?s=46

Inventory Watch

There was a 17% increase in pendings this week, which is in line with last year when the last week of June was the high point for pendings in 2024. This week should be fruitful too.

Here are new pendings this week to help demonstrate the price-reductions-to-days-on-market relationship:

The NSDCC pricing is at its lowest point of the year with the median list price under $3,600,000 for the first time in 2025.  With improving rates over the last week, it was just enough to spark some additional activity:

NSDCC List Price Quartiles

Week
1st Quartile
Median List Price
3rd Quartile
Jan 6
$2,685,000
$4,472,500
$7,995,000
Jan 13
$2,499,000
$4,250,000
$7,750,000
Jan 20
$2,695,000
$4,300,000
$7,767,000
Jan 27
$2,795,000
$4,498,000
$7,995,000
Feb 3
$2,695,000
$4,350,000
$7,499,000
Feb 10
$2,799,000
$4,299,000
$7,695,000
Feb 17
$2,695,000
$4,200,000
$7,750,000
Feb 24
$2,699,500
$4,250,000
$7,645,000
Mar 3
$2,550,000
$4,375,000
$7,497,000
Mar 10
$2,500,000
$4,200,000
$7,250,000
Mar 17
$2,500,000
$4,000,000
$6,995,000
Mar 24
$2,595,000
$4,047,500
$7,275,000
Mar 31
$2,499,000
$4,000,000
$7,300,000
Apr 7
$2,500,000
$4,000,000
$6,995,000
Apr 14
$2,500,000
$3,999,000
$6,995,000
Apr 21
$2,590,000
$3,995,000
$6,799,500
Apr 28
$2,490,000
$3,988,000
$6,500,000
May 5
$2,395,000
$3,795,000
$6,495,000
May 12
$2,495,000
$3,895,000
$6,500,000
May 19
$2,495,000
$3,950,000
$6,595,000
May 26
$2,495,000
$3,984,500
$6,547,500
Jun 2
$2,395,000
$3,799,000
$6,295,500
Jun 9
$2,300,000
$3,649,000
$5,998,500
Jun 16
$2,395,000
$3,649,000
$5,999,000
Jun 23
$2,395,000
$3,649,500
$5,999,500
Jun 30
$2,300,000
$3,598,500
$5,999,000

And these are the quartile prices of the unsolds!

(more…)

Removing All Contingencies

The somewhat-stagnant marketplace should get interesting in the second half of the year. Buyers will sense an opportunity to make aggressive offers, and they might waive all contingencies to help offset their lower price.

Can they still cancel the deal later?

Q. If a buyer removes all contingencies at the onset of a transaction, of course frowned upon, and we ask them to sign the acting against the advice of broker letter; does the buyer still have five days to cancel if they don’t like the disclosures?

A. The answer would depend on whether or not the statutory disclosures were provided to the buyer in advance of the contract being formed. Contingencies and disclosures are two different things. One does not necessarily relate to the other.

If a buyer elects to take the risk of entering into a transaction “contingent free” and against our advice, but has not yet received the statutory disclosures, the 5-day right of rescission (if delivered by mail or email – 3 days if delivered in person) would apply.

In that case, the buyer would indeed have time after receipt to terminate the agreement, even if the offer was contingent free.

Think of it this way: (i) contingencies are contractual rights and/or obligations (ii) statutory disclosures are those that allow for an unfettered right to rescind (meaning unwind) the agreement within the requisite time period.

On the other hand, if the listing agent provided the statutorily prescribed disclosure documents in advance of the offer being formed; the right of rescission would not apply because the buyer would have already received the completed documents. If the statutory disclosures are amended after the contract is formed, the right to rescind is reinstated.

Whenever a buyer is contemplating submitting a non-contingent offer; provide and review the C.A.R. Non-Contingent Offer Advisory (“NCOA”) with the Buyer no later than the time the offer is signed.

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