With its sandy beaches, warm weather and world-class attractions, San Diego County is a picturesque place to buy a home.
That’s part of the reason why San Diego home prices rose the third fastest in the nation for major cities this year, according to S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices.
Other factors for increasing home values are limited supply and record low interest rates, according to San Diego real estate broker Voltaire Lepe.
“There isn’t enough properties out there. There’s 2,300 homes for sale, same time last year there was 4,800 homes for sale. There's a 5% increase in buyers,” Lepe said. “So when you have this many homes, but this many buyers, that's naturally what’s going to happen. And the reason why there are so many buyers right now is because interest rates have been extremely low.”
RELATED: San Diego Real Estate Prices Are Among The Fastest Rising In Nation
In San Diego County, median home prices hit a new mark — $672,750 according to CoreLogic data.
“As soon as the house is on the market, the first weekend they have the open house, and then it's gone the next week,” said recent homebuyer Galen Emery.
While some San Diegans are moving elsewhere, Emery wanted to stay in a city he loves — and recognizes he’s fortunate. But the process was still challenging.
“It used to be back in the day that you would go back multiple rounds. But now they're basically like, ‘okay we will take the top bids that we like, we’ll then take from those, ask every buyer, say give me your best and final number,’” the Bay Park resident said. “There's no ‘here’s where you land, here's where the other people are.’ You are kind of just stabbing in the dark at the number that you think is the right actual number for the house that you want, or at least the number you are willing to pay for it.”
RELATED: San Diego County Home Prices Unchanged, But Sales Slid In January
But Lepe said unlike the frenzied time period before the Great Recession, now is a great time to invest, for first-time and experienced buyers alike.
“If you’re a home buyer in this market I would say take advantage of the low interest rates as long as you can afford the property, it beats renting all day long. If you are a home seller, if you’re even thinking of selling your home, now is the time to do it,” he said.
The real estate broker added that he expects a small correction for the high prices in the region, and that the only people who should potentially wait to buy a home in San Diego are cash buyers.
