Most of the country is experiencing increases in their inventory, but not San Diego. This is why I think our frenzy could – and should – be as hot today as it was last year, but there just aren’t enough homes for sale.
The count of active listings is half of what it was last year at this time!
In spite of our inventory dropping, San Diego sales are hanging tough – down only 11.1%:
From Bill at CR:
Man, what a great time to sell. Here is Bill’s full article:
The benefit show tonight raised $140,000 for the NAMM foundation! Security is tight so you only have one opportunity to get a minute or two of video – this was my shot tonight (she is 74 years old!):
Elon Musk may have just surpassed Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos as the richest person in the world (at time of press), but with a net worth of $191.4 billion and owning the properties he does, he’s not bound to lose any sleep over the news. Bezos, like other billionaires, has a complex and wide-ranging real estate portfolio that includes everything from Beverly Hills mansions to the Corn Ranch near Van Horn, Texas.
It was also announced last year that Bezos cracked the top 25 list of people that own the most land in the U.S., with 420,000 acres.
Here’s an overview of Jeff Bezos’ real estate portfolio:
There might be a few stragglers left to report, but this gives us a good reflection of how the summer wrapped up after the frenzy started cooling in June:
NSDCC September Sales
Remember when sales prices were lower than list prices?
The median sales price in September is 5.3% higher than the median list price.
The median sales price rose 34% year-over-year.
The sales count is the third highest ever.
If there were more homes for sale, nobody would be talking about a cooldown!
This latest survey by realtor.com shows that only 11% of homebuyers are concerned about the drought (just edging out the sinkholes!):
Homeowners were the most concerned about tornadoes, at 39%; severe cold or winter storms, at 38%; flooding, at 35%; hurricanes, at 29%; earthquakes, at 21%; wildfires, at 17%; droughts, at 11%; and sinkholes, at 8%.
According to drought.com, 87.9% of California is enduring ‘Extreme Drought’ conditions today, but San Diego County isn’t part of it:
The last severe drought peaked in 2014, and it was only after the fact that we found out that San Diego had plenty of water. This year, the governor has urged Californians to voluntarily cut domestic water use by 15%, and more restrictions are likely to follow.
How will it affect the real estate market?
Hopefully it will cause more buyers and sellers to seek out the truth – that San Diego is in better shape than most of the state. There is a very affluent demand for homes here, and water will always be available….at some price. Buyers with bigger and better reasons to move here won’t be deterred, and besides, what’s the alternative? Move to Florida?
It might cause a few more potential sellers to add one more reason to their list of why they should move, but the fear of water drying up won’t be enough to overwhelm the reasons to stay – weather, it’s-more-comfortable-to-stay, don’t-need-to-move, don’t want to go through my stuff, kids-are-here, etc. Maybe some additional inventory hits the market in selected areas, but don’t expect a flood.
Speaking of Zillow, they also said in this June article that San Diego home prices would rise 24.7% by May.
How are we doing?
There has never been a great measuring stick for home prices, but let’s look at the most common ones:
Yikes – it looks like home prices have been fairly flat over the last 2-3 months, at least according to the standard ways of measuring. Pricing doesn’t have to rise 2% every month to get to their 24.7%, but having upward momentum is critical because once we roll into Plateau City, it gets harder to convince buyers to overpay. They are already cooling their jets:
It’s hard to believe that we got smoked by Cleveland, Chicago, and Detroit (and Ventura didn’t make the list!), but our housing cost is a barrier. They have many reviews of each city, and for those who take politics into the decision-making process, these links include the voting history in last five presidential elections (including 2020):
America’s Best Cities* for a Healthy (and More Affordable) Retirement
*Includes surrounding metropolitan areas, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, including one or more central cities and the surrounding county or counties (which comprise the suburbs).
