Housing prices in San Diego reach $450,000, highest in the past five years

The continual rise of the amounts homes are selling for in America’s Finest City recently reached a five-year high. The median sales price of a single-family home in San Diego County achieved the level of $450,000 last month for the first time in five years, the San Diego Association of Realtors announced Tuesday.

“If there was any lingering doubt about the real estate comeback, these numbers should put that doubt to rest,” said Linda Lee, SDAR’s president. “The increase in price means more people will put their homes on the market, which is great news for buyers.”

The $450,000 mark is 23 percent higher than April 2012 and four percent above the median price in March, according to the SDAR. It has not been this much since January 2008, when it was $475,000.  Compare that to the severe drop felt by August 2008, when the economy as a whole was tanking, and the local median price was $350,000.

The absolute highest home prices ever seen in San Diego County were the median of $517,500, reached in November 2005.

About three percent more homes sold in April, 2013, compared to the same month in 2012.

The SDAR reported that the median price of $288,500 for condominiums and townhomes was up 37 percent over April of last year, and slightly over that of March this year. The number of sales for multi-family housing was down 3 percent compared to April 2012.

Properties are remaining on the market for an average of about two months, according to the SDAR.

Mortgage rates, while creeping up recently, remain very close to the lowest ever. The 30-year fixed rate is 3.59 percent, while the 15-year fixed is 2.84 percent.

At the same time the number of homes available to be sold is lower than usual, leading to a rise in pricing.

One last contributor to the increase in housing costs is a lowering of the number of distressed sales. These are a combination of foreclosures and short sales. This factor can be influential in pricing since distressed properties are normally priced lower.