The average price of a single-family house sold through the San Diego Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service rose 14.2 percent in December when compared to the same period 12 months before.
The increase in the average price to $354,000 was exceeded by an 18 percent increase in the median price to $275,000, statistics from the real estate brokers organization show.
However, sales through the MLS make up only about 60 percent of the total sales activity in the county, said Alan Nevin, director of economic research for San Diego-based MarketPoint Realty Advisors. Consequently, they don’t show the entire picture, he said.
His statistics , obtained from a title insurance company database , show the average sale price of all homes transferred in the county was up 12.5 percent between September 1999 and September 2000.
That’s the most recent period for which he has comprehensive statistics, he said. Nevin said he expects prices to continue to climb for the foreseeable future.
“As long as people feel confident in the economy, they will keep buying houses,” Nevin said. “Mortgage rates were about 7.25 percent at the start of last year and now they are under 7 percent, so that won’t dampen sales.”
To Mike Tristany, a salesman with Prudential California Realty’s office in Mission Valley, a lot of the demand appears to be coming from out-of-town buyers. People in the San Francisco Bay Area, where houses cost about twice as much as here, think San Diego property is a bargain, he said.
Tristany sells mainly in the older areas of San Diego, such as Kensington, Talmadge and Mission Hills.
Buyers from San Francisco don’t appear to be too concerned about the price of the houses they see in San Diego, he said.
He said some of the demand is also being fueled by lower interest rates this year.
The real estate market recovery the past several years appears to be different from previous recoveries, Tristany said.
“I think this recovery is different because it appears that the higher priced areas are leading the appreciation parade instead of the starter homes,” Tristany said.
He foresees prices stabilizing somewhat in the coming year, based on conversations this month with other agents in the rest of the county. They are seeing slightly less sales volume in their territories than last January, he said.
“My gut feeling is that we will have a stable market soon with no major fluctuations in price as long as real estate loan rates stay low,” Tristany said.
The average county condominium price rose 21 percent from December 1999 to December 2000, the MLS statistics show. Last month, the average sale price of a condo was $214,929, according to the MLS figures.
The median sales price was up 18.6 percent to $172,000 as well.
The total number of homes entering escrow last month, 2,369, was similar to the 2,373 that did so in December 1999, the MLS said.
