Those in the hunt for a house have noticed how tough the inventory has been. How bad is it?
If you don’t mind spending $2,000,000 or more, there are plenty of choices – in fact, there are 344 NSDCC houses for sale listed at or above $2,000,000.
It’s the lower ranges that are really suffering.
Here are the counts of houses listed for sale at or under $1,000,000:
| City or Area | ||
| Carlsbad | ||
| Carmel Valley | ||
| Encinitas | ||
| La Jolla | ||
| Del Mar | ||
| Solana Beach | ||
| Cardiff | ||
| RSF | ||
| Total |
For an area with a population of 300,000, that’s not much meat on the bone! The only choices for buyers are uncomfortable too:
1. Figure out how to go higher in price.
2. Consider fixers or condos.
3. Go further out.
4. Wait, and hope it gets better.
December is the slow month for new listings. The last two Januarys have had the 5th and 6th highest new-listing counts of the year. Here is how we stack up to previous years:
January New Listings
2011: 515
2012: 409
2013: 410
2014: 413
2015: 230 (so far)
When is the best time to sell? When everyone else isn’t!
JtR: I too keep wondering where is the inventory? In the 2 markets I keep tabs on for potential purchase (besides checking in with you San Diegans), inner Portland, Oregon (97212, 97232, 97214 & 97201) and the Walnut Creek, CA vicinity, inventory counts keep hitting historical lows.
It would seem divorce, death and job displacement are no longer drivers of real estate inventory. It is both fascinating and frustrating to watch. The only thing worse than being a buyer in this market is being a real estate agent. Imagine a car dealership with 10 salespersons and only 3 cars on the lot.
We need more inventory!
Everyone must also be paying their mortgage because for some odd reason there’s no foreclosures any more.
There’s lots of cheap opportunities for home-seekers in the beach areas if you know where to look:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLCVC1wbvtw
This almost reminds me of the 2005-2006 period. Where even if I sold my home for top dollar, it would not be enough to purchase something better than what I already had. So, I just sat on it.
So, with no “new” inventory, I think people are doing just that. They’re sitting where they’re at because they have nothing better to move up to even if they did sell at current, higher prices.