January’s increasing interest rates put more pressure on the already insane North County and San Diego housing markets pushing the median, year-over sales price up by 20 percent in San Diego County. According to OJO Labs, we now are the nation’s least affordable metro.

Just when we thought the number of homes for sale in the North County and San Diego real estate markets couldn’t go any lower, it has. Normally as we enter spring, inventory starts to move up. This year it has dropped. This is putting more pressure on an already red-hot market.

While quite busy in October, the North County and San Diego real estate markets did see some slowdown in November. But because new listings dropped more than pending listings and sales, inventory levels plummeted. They’re lower now than I can ever remember seeing. This severely limited inventory paired with historically low interest rates has created an incredibly competitive market for home buyers. Due to these factors, we continued to see strong year-over price gains.

The California Association of Realtors 2021 Housing Market Forecast projects that this inventory shortage will continue, but price increases will be more moderate. They expect interest rates to stay just above three percent, and home sales to increase slightly in 2021.

North County and San Diego Real Estate December 2020

Year-over, median prices were up 10.7 percent countywide and 11.6 percent in North County. Inventory dropped by about 50 percent compared to the previous year, and market times were very short. New listings, pending sales and closed sales dropped countywide. The same was true in North County, but closed sales saw a 10.5 percent gain.

See below for this month’s statistics and daily interest rate updates.

The October North County and San Diego real estate markets both saw 15 percent, year-over price increases. Paired with strong price growth were steep decreases in available inventory and days on market compared to the previous year.

Historically low interest rates paired with very little inventory and pent-up demand are forcing prices up quickly. If we see more inventory coming on the market or an increase in interest rates, those price increases should slow down.

The California Association of Realtors 2021 Housing Market Forecast projects that interest rates will stay just above three percent next year. But inventory may start to increase with the recent passing of Proposition 19.

Proposition 19 will allow homeowners who are over 55, severely disabled or those whose homes were destroyed by wildfire or disaster to transfer the tax base value of their primary residence to a replacement residence of any value, anywhere in the state. This may help motivate some homeowners to make a move.

North County and San Diego Real Estate October 2020

Both North County and San Diego County as a whole saw strong, year-over, median price gains of over 15 percent. Inventory dropped compared to last year by approximately 48 percent. Year-over market times were significantly shorter. North County saw increases in new listings, pending sales and closed sales while San Diego County as a whole had more pending sales but fewer new listings and closed sales.

See below for this month’s statistics and daily interest rate updates.