SD Home Sale Prices Pass Milestone; IB Prices Continue to Rise

The median sales price of a single-family home in San Diego County reached $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 hasn't been that high since January 2008, when it was $475,000.

About 3 percent more houses sold last month, compared to the same month the year before.

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.

In Imperial Beach the number of homes sold in April was slighly less than the same month last year but the median price of a detached home increased about 7.4 percent from April 2012 to April 2013.

Year to date median home prices are up 10.7 percent in IB.

"For Sale" signs in front of homes in Imperial Beach in 2013 were on display for about half as much time as they were during the same time period in 2012.

Single Family Detatched

Condo sales told a similar story about the Imperial Beach real estate market: Fewer properties sold year to date but average days on the market went down.

The number of attached residential properties sold in the first four months of 2013 was less than half the amount sold in the first four months of 2012.

The median price for condos sold in April was more than double prices for condos sold during the same month last year. However, year to date, the median price of condos sold in Imperial Beach was roughly 10 percent lower than sales through April last year.

Attached Housing

City News Service contributed to this report.