From CAR – scroll down to chart showing SD County #2 in state; only San Mateo County is lower:
LOS ANGELES (Aug. 23) – A continued shortage of available homes on the market impeded California pending home sales in July, but pending sales were still higher from the previous year for the 15th straight month, CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.
Pending home sales data:
C.A.R.’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)* fell 4.2 percent from a revised 121.2 in June to 116.1 in July, based on signed contracts. Pending sales were up 2.8 percent from the 113.0 index recorded in July 2011. July marked the 15th straight month that pending sales were higher than the previous year, but July’s year-over-year increase was the smallest in the past year. Pending home sales are forward-looking indicators of future home sales activity, providing information on the future direction of the market.
“We continue to see a strong demand for housing, but the California market is being hindered by a lack of inventory and multiple offers on what little inventory that is available,” said C.A.R. President LeFrancis Arnold. “The shortage of inventory has had the most dramatic effect in the REO market, where the available inventory stands at a 1.5-month supply and the share of REO sales dropping 35 percent over the past year.”
Distressed housing market data:
• The share of equity sales – or non-distressed property sales – compared with total sales continued to expand in July. The share of equity sales increased to 59.5 percent in July, up from 58 percent in June. Equity sales made up 52.4 percent of all sales in July 2011.
• The share of REO sales statewide shrank further, while the share of short sales increased. The combined share of all distressed property sales fell to 40.5 percent in July, down from 42 percent in June and down from 47.6 percent in July 2011.
• The share of short sales increased in July to 22.6 percent, up from 21.4 percent in June and from 18.8 percent a year ago.
• Of the distressed properties, the share of REO sales dwindled in July to 17.4 percent, down from 20.2 percent in June and 28.6 percent in July 2011.
• The available supply of REOs for sale remained constricted in July, with the Unsold Inventory Index standing at a 1.5-month supply in July 2012, essentially unchanged from 1.4 months in June. The July Unsold Inventory Index for equity sales stood at 3.8 months and was 4.2 months for short sales.
Unless we get a flood of the fabled shadow inventory here in San Diego we are going to be in short supply of housing for years to come.
We are finally seeing deals pencil out better to build from the ground up vs. Buying and renovating.
Welcome Curtis!
Could this be the natural evolution of the baby-boomer generation?
They have been the lifeblood of the local demand for the last 15 years. Are most residing in their final destination (whether they like it or not) and choking off supply because they have stopped moving?
With people living longer, we could have a long dry spell of low supply, with the natural death cycle stalling for 5-10 years or longer before we start seeing the liquidation of the family homesteads begin again.
Boy, they will be fixers by then!
“shrug” there are worse places to be stuck …
Being the #2 lowest percent in distressed sales, is San Diego also among the lowest in bank owned foreclosures yet to be put on the market as well as the lowest in mortgages already in default?
It could be that being one of the lowest in distress sales is indicative of San Diego having one of the lowest in REO and defaulted mortgages. However, they could also be independent of each other: the banks are simply holding on to more REOs and not process defaulted mortgages in a timely manner in San Diego region than they do in some other regions.
There are 53 counties in California, how were these 32 selected? Notably absent are the SF Bay Area counties San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa. Also missing Santa Barbara and Ventura.