San Diego County's median home price was $573,500 in October, lifted by a big increase in sales.
There were 3,485 home sales, up 10.1% compared to the same time last year, said CoreLogic data provided by DQNews. Experts have largely attributed the turn in the market to falling interest rates.
The median price of $573,500 is an increase of 2.6% in a year. That is an improvement over the past few months, which showed prices flat in San Diego County. However, at the same time last year, prices were up 5.6% in a year.
San Diego County was not alone in this trend. In Southern California home sales were up around 8%, and median prices moved up slightly. The uptick in prices seemed to correlate with other indicators of a rebounding market, including a drop in the number of price reductions in San Diego County and across Southern California from earlier this year.
Interest rates for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage were 3.69% in October, said Freddie Mac, down from 4.83% at the same time last year.
While lower interest rates may have helped potential buyers, home inventory was tightening. There were 6,082 homes for sale in October, said the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors, down from 7,918 at the same time last year.
Here's how the market fared by home type:
Resale single-family homes: Median of $630,000, down from a peak of $649,000 in June. There were 2,181 sales, an increase of 9.7% from a year ago. Resale condos: Median of $425,000, down from a peak of $440,000 in August. There were 979 sales, up 2.1% annually. Newly built: Median of $626,000, down from a peak of $812,500 in October last year. There were 325 home sales, up 48.4% from the same time last year. Across Southern California, San Bernardino County had the biggest increase with a median of $350,000, up 5.2% in a year.
It was followed by Los Angeles County with a median of $620,000, up 4.2% annually; Riverside County with a median of $395,000, up 3.9%; San Diego County with its 2.6% increase; and Orange County with a median of $725,000, up 0.7% in a year.
Not all counties had an increase. Ventura County's median of $580,000 was down 3% from last year.
