Home Sales New Three Year Low

The home market in San Diego might take a hit through the rest of this quarter and into the next as home sales are at a three year low.  This news break comes from the San Diego Union-Tribune which notes that this follows the trend in the housing market throughout San Diego County which started in January.

However the slow market this month shouldn’t be too much of a concern.  John Walsh, the president of DataQuick stated, “When it comes to statistical trends, January and February are atypical months that haven’t proven to be predictive over the years.”  In line with this same thought, Denny Oh, a realtor that works with Pacific Southeby’s International Realty said, “January is typically a slower month.  I think there’s a number of factors with the holidays, the new year, traveling and then starting to look at taxes, and on top of that, you’ve got the uncertainties to where rates are going.”

Looking at the data, it appears that the market is slowing down to a three to four percent annual appreciation.  In January there was a 15.7% year-over-year appreciation, which was up from the 14.8% from December 2013 and December 2012.

The trend in San Diego County also mirrors that of the entire Southern California State.  Home sales were slow in six different counties, aside from San Diego.  Los Angeles appears to be the most affected by the slowing market with over 20% year-over-year gains, and Orange County with nearly the same increase.

This news should come as no surprise to people and investors that are watching the market.  With families and home owners less likely to be purchasing homes, the market is becoming an ideal place to purchase homes for lease.  Investors should be looking at the slowing mortgages rates, the leveling of taxes and value, and moving to invest now.

At Rent RPM we manage real estate and property throughout North San Diego County and keep a vested interest in the changes to the market and the local housing and real estate economy.  We offer insight and news for our clients to know what to expect generally, as well as detailed information provided in our monthly reports that we send to our clients.  Currently we believe that the market is moving toward stasis and leveling out for 2014 and should show signs of a recovery from the Great Recession of 2008, albeit a slow recovery.