February 2014 San Diego Real Estate Market Update

1:51 PM on Fri, February 14, 2014 | 90 Views

Steady Growth Expected to Continue Nationally in 2014

Following last year's huge gains in home values, economists expect to see more modest growth in most real estate markets during 2014. A limited supply of existing homes for sale, as well as a lower-than-normal output from new home builders, resulted in double-digit gains across most of the country in 2013. Thanks to a steadily increasing supply and rising interest rates, 2014 is likely offer continued increases in real estate value, but at a slower pace than we've seen over the past year.

According to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, this slight slowdown may actually be good for the economy – with home prices increasing faster than income and interest rates continuing to go up, many locales are seeing a decrease in housing affordability. With a slower, steadier growth in real estate values, a greater number of Americans will be able to purchase property this year.

Although growth figures aren't expected to be as significant in 2014 as they were last year, property values are still expected to see healthy appreciation. While 2013's numbers were not safely sustainable for the long-term, property owners all over America can anticipate seeing their home values continue to rise as we proceed into the new year.

San Diego Real Estate Starts off Slowly in 2014, Stable Appreciation Expected

In the NAR's fourth quarter report, the San Diego area rounded out the top-five most expensive markets in the nation, with an median home price of $476,800 for the last three months of 2013. Following a typically quiet holiday season, completed single-family San Diego real estate sales dropped sharply in January, falling 22% from December to a total of 1,258 transactions. Local supply decreased as well during the first month of the year, falling over 12% from December with an average of 3,817 single family properties being listed in January.

Despite this seasonal slowdown, the average time on market for San Diego homes for sale remained at 61 days, much less than a year ago, and equal to May 2013 when the local market was experiencing a frenzy of buyers snatching up quality properties as quickly as possible.

During January, the median sales price for a single-family San Diego real estate was $473,500, a number that has remained relatively steady for the past couple of months. This comes as the market stabilizes following its significant 12-month growth spurt. Year-over-year, the median local home value was up 21.4% in January compared to the median price of $390,000 seen in January 2013. Even if that rate of growth isn't attainable in the coming months of 2014, owners of San Diego real estate can still expect to see the worth of their home going up as the year goes on.