Home Sales Decline in Imperial Beach, San Diego and Nationwide

Median home prices and the number of houses and condominiums sold in May countywide dropped sharply compared to the same month last year, according to data compiled by the San Diego Association of Realtors.

Single-family homes sales dropped 13.8 percent and condos or attached homes fell 19.5 percent compared to the same month last year, the SDAR said.

The median price of a detached home last month was $380,000, compared to $391,000 in May 2010. For condos, the median price was $214,500, down from $237,000 one year earlier.

Declines in year-to-date sales of houses compared to last year took place in the Eastlake section of Chula Vista, Lemon Grove, northern El Cajon, Encinitas, northern Escondido, northeastern Oceanside and northern San Marcos.

Within the city of San Diego, major declines were seen in College Grove, East San Diego, Otay Mesa, Pacific Beach, Paradise Hills, Rancho Bernardo, Scripps Ranch and Serra Mesa.

Similar trends could be found in April national housing market figures.
Nationwide, home sales in April 2011 were down nearly 13 percent from a year prior and sales prices down five percent, the National Association of Realtors said.

In Imperial Beach the story is a bit different.

Total year-to-date sales declined 29 percent in May in comparison to last year, but prices continued to rise, and short sales have increased while traditional sales saw a decline.

Cheryl Schaumburg, a real estate agent with Coldwell Realty, said short sales and REO or real estate owned properties in IB are at an all-time high for a two-year span.

“We’ve never ever in my years of real estate seen this many short sales and REOs,” Schaumburg said.

In 2009, there was a combined total of 38 short sales, according to the Multiple Listings Service, which realtors use to follow the market. 2010 saw the number of short sales increase to 45. Nine short sales occurred in the first four months of 2011.

"It is a buyer’s market right now,” Schaumburg said. “However, talking about a buyer’s market most of the properties that are priced really, really low have multiple offers on them so you get into a bidding war with other buyers."