Health, Housing & The Health of Housing
in San Diego, CA Week 4/COVID-19
To Sell Or Not To Sell?
Housing continues to be a low supply, demand remains high = it's a seller's market still in most of San Diego's sought after neighborhoods under $1,300,000. Buyers are still buying under the guise that maybe some homeowners are more negotiable right now and definitely there is less competition. Meanwhile, per our MLS sold homes - are selling between 98.3% and 99.2% of their asking prices on average, with certain neighborhoods reporting as low as 93% while others as much as 104% of asking price. Some of the homes selling under 100% were over priced to begin with.
To Buy Or Not To Buy?
With local leaders and economists predicting a bounce back as early as this summer as the San Diego economy and job market remains strong, buyers with solid employment are smart to *re-approve for a loan and get out there **before the media announces the recovery.
We have less than 1.6 months of inventory (6 months is a normal market).
San Diego in March 2020 was down 3.3% in number of closed sales compared to March 2019. Prices were up 6.8% compared to March 2019. Up 14.2% Detached Properties and 8.2% Attached Properties and year to date shows us- up 7.5%
San Diego in April 2020 has seen 829 new listings come on the market, 783 sold this month, 563 went into contract Pending, 487 changed prices: (not all were reduced, some raised).
*Many loans programs have changed or been paused, it's best to revisit your lender and verify your March or earlier pre-approval is still valid.
**The media is typically 2-6 months behind market trends in their reporting; if you wait for them to give you the all clear, it's too late. This was proven during The Crash of 2007-2012.
State of CA's State of Health: California was the first state in the union to "shelter in place" and we are seeing the "flattening of the virus curve" as a a result of it. Sources like Scripps Hospital and others are forecasting our CA COVID-19 peak to potentially be May/June 2020, which is great news for the downhill run to recovery. While we understand this is only a forecat, it's positive news and encouraging.
Industry News: Interestingly, Refin and Zillow both announced in the last 4 weeke s the "pause" of their iBuyer programs for now. Neither company has been profitable since their inception, where it not for heavy venture capital investing, they'd have been long gone as neither company's business model is sustainable under traditional Business & Economics 101 standards; that sooner than later, income needs to exceed expenses.
REALTORS are your Winter Soldiers that continue to work when it's hard to do so, when the Sunshine Patriots shrink from their responsibilities. We are still open for business; deemed essential services in CA and we are here to serve you.
LIVE STREAMING OPEN HOUSES: The new virtual Live-stream Open House function is available now in Paragon (San Diego's MLS). Paragon (MLS) has the functionality to set up and schedule open houses using your preferred streaming service, such as Facebook Live or Zoom.
Beware of Scams and Fraud Schemes
RESOURCES:
Relief for Rental Property Owners: https://www.carcovidupdates.org/relief-faq-rental-owners
Lanlord/Tenant COVID-19 Rights: https://www.carcovidupdates.org/relief-faq-rental-owners
Unemployment: https://edd.ca.gov/
Disaster Loan Assistance: https://covid19relief.sba.gov/#/
SBA COVID-19 Guidance: https://www.sba.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-small-business-guidance-loan-resources
COVID-19 CA Response: https://covid19.ca.gov/
Stay Home Except for Essential Needs: https://covid19.ca.gov/stay-home-except-for-essential-needs/#top
San Diego Public Health COVID-19: https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/hhsa/programs/phs/community_epidemiology/dc/2019-nCoV.html
