The median sales price for a detached home in the county continues on a seasonal climb. According to our MLS (depicted on the chart below) the median detached home price in March was $934,500. While the median price is down 4.2% from last March when the median price was $975,000, it is up 3.9% from February’s median price of $899,000.
Limited inventory is helping push prices higher, however it is still critical for sellers to price their home right. Multiple sources and personal experience have shown that pricing a home realistically based on local market data will help it sell quickly in today’s market. The danger of overpricing a home is having extended days on market, buyers questioning what may be wrong with a home that has not sold. This likely will result in price cuts and a steeper discount than if the home was initially priced at market.
Data from our MLS on the chart below shows the trending increased number of detached housing pending sales over the past 30 days compared with the months supply of housing. It reflects a market with high liquidity, meaning sellers who priced their homes right can expect an offer within a few weeks, at or near their list price.
I would be grateful to help take care of your contacts who are seeking a real estate appraisal to establish a date of death value for estate tax purposes. The IRS has specific guidelines on establishing a fair market value for tax reporting purposes, so it is important to get it right the first time! Appraisals tailored to specific IRS guidelines are my specialty and I am ready to provide your referrals with the best service available, just pass along my contact information and I will do the rest.
Staging makes it easier for buyers to visualize the property as their future home, both online and in person. We are able to blend staging with your existing furniture too, so you don’t have to empty out your house….unless you want to!
Here is a link to the NAR 2023 Profile of Home Staging:
We are in the middle of the home-selling season, which means this will be as good as it gets for 2023.
The balance of buyers and sellers has been remarkably steady. Over the last 90 days, the number of active listings has been in a tight 10% range, and the pendings haven’t budged, really, since the Super Bowl.
Those who planned ahead about selling during the season should have listed their home by now. There could be some daredevils who are waiting another 2-3 weeks before going live, thinking that a few more comps might close and help them achieve an extra 5% or so – but it could go either way.
This was sadly to be Joe Strummer’s last public performance in the United States before he passed away on December 22, 2002 at age 50.
He died from a heart attack caused by an undiagnosed congenital heart defect, and was found by his wife at his home in Broomfield, Somerset, having just returned from walking his dog.
Hat tip to our seller who noticed a new paragraph in the counter-offers this year that went undetected by everyone I know – and we go to the Forms Update every year to hear about changes!
Paragraph 1C in the counter-offer identifies the Appraisal Gap:
When we first read this, it sounded like the purchase price would automatically be lowered to the appraised value without negotiation.
But Gov at the C.A.R. legal office submitted this response:
It means that if, for example, the buyer made an offer of $500,000, contingent on the property appraising at $475,000, and the Seller countered at $520,000 and the buyer accepts the counter, the buyer’s appraisal contingency is automatically adjusted to be $495,000. In other words the $25,000 “appraisal gap” is carried over in the counter. (I admit the language is a little confusing).
Here is the part of the contract that he references:
I’ve never seen anyone put a lower value in Paragraph L(2), but we just started using this version.
The touchy part was that the counter-offer comes later – after the contract verbiage above – which would mean that it would supersede it. It looked like the buyer could waive the appraisal contingency, but then the counter would make it valid again.
Wondering how the local market can survive higher mortgage rates? It starts with the cash buyers laying the foundation of comparable sales, and financed buyers deciding if they can keep up.
Thanks to Julie Chang for posting this data – her thread of comments here:
Here is Bill’s second look at the active inventories with more metros added. It is incredible how inventory is exploding elsewhere, yet San Diego has fewer homes for sale now than during last year’s uber-frenzy.
The Atlanta metro population is 6,144,050 which is almost double ours….but they have 5x the inventory!
It should open up more opportunities for San Diego homeowners to sell at record prices (or close), and cut good deals out-of-state. Metros that have 2x the inventory YoY should be ripe for 10% to 20% discounts.
The recent bounce-back has been impressive with 183 NSDCC closings in March, which is better than the sluggish start that I expected.
The 101% looks like a good sign too.
Was it an overall market improvement that will keep growing? Or just a lucky stretch of higher-quality homes coming to market early in the season?
Here is more texture. The market time is improving, though not to the uber-frenzy level of last year:
This note about the March sales was the most interesting:
House sales closed for $100,000 or more OVER the list price: 20
House sales closed for $100,000 or more UNDER the list price: 51
I think we’ve entered a new frenzy-lite phase where the buyers are more deliberate in their actions, and holding out even more for the higher-quality homes – but willing to pay the premium for them.
While the number of NSDCC active listings has been as steady as anyone could imagine (above), the median list price has been climbing rapidly this year:
January 9th: $3,495,000
April 10th: $4,074,997
The NSDCC median list price has risen 17% in three months! With rates in the 6s, who saw that coming?
Even though our new listing had several features that are highly desired by today’s buyers (end of culdesac, big flat grass backyard, quiet, and owned solar), we went all out in the presentation and advertising.
The sellers went beyond our recommendations in tuning up every last detail, and it was reflected in the comments. “Looks like a model” was heard several times!
We did conduct a productive bidding war and it sold for well above the list price. But there’s nothing I’d do differently – the best insurance you have for selling for top dollar is to do EVERYTHING!
