Recapping the Market with Our August 2018 Regional Glance

The August 2018 regional glance around our Southern California real estate markets shows a continuation of many trends we have seen throughout the summer months. Across the region, major markets continue to experience minimal inventory levels, leading to a climb in home prices. However, there are now signs that market shifts are starting to take root in some places. Below is our market-by-market snapshot of how the region is faring. As a reminder, the numbers include all property types for each market and demonstrate the overall direction of a region. For the latest information specific to your real estate needs, please get in touch with a local Bennion Deville Homes real estate professional.

Coachella Valley August 2018 Regional Glance

Through the summer months, normally the “off season” for the desert, the Coachella Valley real estate market has remained steady and demonstrated year-over-year gains in key areas. August continues that trend as home prices, both average sale price (7.1%) and average price per square foot (5.5%) experienced increases compared to the same time last year. Helping push home prices up is a decline in available inventory, which is down more than 19% compared to 2017. Closed sales volume was nearly identical to last year despite a 5.7% dip in the number of transactions, aided by rising home prices. Additionally, listing discount (sold price versus list price) is at 96.6%, up 0.1% compared to a year ago, and the pace of sales is 16.2% faster, clocking in with an average days on market of 88 days across the valley. With monthly inventory holding at a 3.2-month supply, the Coachella Valley is firmly a seller’s market. However, the desert real estate season is just around the corner, a time when more homes traditionally become available. As the desert season starts, it will be worth keeping an eye on inventory levels to see if the high demand for homes continues. Regardless of what the coming months hold, the Coachella Valley real estate market is ending summer in white-hot fashion.

Orange County August 2018 Regional Glance

Orange County is a market that is showing signs of transition, as we have documented in previous months, and the August numbers portray a continuation of this shift. The number of homes changing hands dropped by 11.1% compared to last year, and the sales volume of the market on the whole was down by 4.1%. Inventory levels saw a considerable jump, up 22.8% compared to 2017, pushing the months of inventory to 2.5 (up 56.3% compared to last year). All of this despite a rise in average sales price (7.8%) and average price per square foot (6.3%). Additionally, the average days on market for a listing was slightly quicker, coming in at 36 days on average to sell a home, 1 day faster than last year’s pace. Listing discounts also remained about the same, with a sold price versus list price averaging 98.1% across the region (0.1% better than last year). With a spike in inventory and a decline in sales, it appears that homebuyers are officially waiting out what they perceive to be inflated prices across the market. With more homes becoming available we should expect to see prices level off, especially now that peak sales season is winding down.

San Diego August 2018 Regional Glance

As we observed last month, the San Diego real estate market is showing signs of transition. Once again, the number of transactions (-15.1%) and sales volume (-8%) for the market slumped, all while inventory surged by 32.9% to 7,500 units. Despite the deflated sales numbers and increased inventory, home prices saw a healthy 8.4% increase to average sale price and a 5.6% jump in average price per square foot. For a second straight month, average days on market was up slightly, coming in at 28 days to sell a home versus 27 days in 2017. Listing discount remained about the same as well, with sale price versus list price commanding 97.9% on average, up modestly by 0.2% from last year. The biggest indicator of a market in flux is the jump in inventory and overall decline in sales, which factors into a 2.5-month supply of inventory, up 56.3% from the same time last year. It appears that San Diego is slightly ahead of the transition pace compared to other markets in Southern California, but the signs all indicate that the market is sliding back toward equilibrium. Moving forward, we will continue to monitor inventory levels and sales pace to see how these metrics affect home prices.

San Gabriel Valley August 2018 Regional Glance

The San Gabriel Valley market is showing some interesting trends through August of this year. The number of transactions (-11.7%) and sales volume (-9.8%) both saw major dips compared to a year ago, and inventory was roughly the same, down by only 0.8% year-over-year. Despite these indicators, the average sale price was up 2.2% and price per square foot jumped 6.3%. The pace of sales is slightly faster compared to a year ago, coming in at an average of 35 days on market (down from 38 last year), and price discounts are almost non-existent, with a sold price versus list price of 99.7% (up 0.4% compared to 2017). Interestingly, despite nearly identical inventory levels and a faster pace of sales, months of inventory inched up to 2.2 months of available supply, a 10% increase from last year. Unlike Orange County and San Diego, markets that are both clearly in a state of transition, the San Gabriel Valley market is showing signs of holding on to current market conditions and a more gradual shift back to equilibrium within the market. Monitoring how inventory levels affect home prices will be key as we head out of the summer sales season and into a traditionally quieter time of the year.