San Diego County median resale prices for single-family homes hit the million-dollar mark in May, a record high and a number that has only been previously reached in Southern California by Orange County.
Experts attribute the overall rise in prices for San Diego County single-family homes to strong competition over a limited selection, according to the San Diego Union Tribune. However, it seems those rising prices are driving away potential buyers. This May had the second-lowest figure in home sales for that month since 1988, with just 2,485 recorded sales.
While Coronado has been grouped into those statistics with its neighbors across the bridge, the greater market seems to reflect some similar trends happening on the island – but with local prices triple the countywide median.
Market time increased by almost 100 days
There are currently 108 properties on the market in Coronado as of Sept. 12, with the median price of those active listings set at $3.1 million – significantly above San Diego County’s median active listing price of $998,000. Of those 108 properties, only 14 are a pending sale – putting the expected market time at 231 days. A year ago, the market time was estimated at 140 days, according to Reports on Housing, a bi-weekly report that gathers data to assess the real estate market at both the county and city levels.
Steven Thomas, chief economist of Reports on Housing, described the turnover rate as “a pretty slow velocity,” adding, “Only 14 homes out of 108 competing is not a giant success rate. It means that these sellers are continuing to compete against each other.”
Thomas said Coronado sales are slow in part because the island holds some of the area’s most expensive homes.
Median home price deemed “luxurious”
In San Diego County, single-family dwellings that sell for more than $2 million are considered luxury homes. Coronado’s median single-family resale price – encompassing the prices buyers and sellers agreed upon – sat at $2.4 million in August, meaning much of Coronado’s listings fall into that category.
Coronado Shores Company owner Myssie McCann, who has worked in the local real estate market for the past eight years, said the luxurious nature of the island places the market into its own “economic bubble.”
“The difference with Coronado is that we are a lot of people’s second home, or third home,” said McCann. “I always tell my clients that because we are such a unique market – 95% of the time units are being sold by owners who don’t have to sell their property, they just want to sell their property.”
Home sales remaining consistent
This common theme in the island’s market means that sellers put a price on property and generally stick with it, refusing to negotiate.
“If it takes six months, a year, two years, three years to sell it, the seller usually doesn’t care,” said McCann.
Still, McCann has not seen a decrease in sales on the island. She attributes that stability to the dynamics of a vacation-home market.
“Things were in a lull for a bit but we just saw a bit of a bump in the last few months – summertime was here,” said McCann. “A lot of people were visiting, a lot of vacationers and out-of-towners that were looking to buy.”
In May, there were 15 closed sales on the island, followed by 17 in June, 24 in July and 31 in August. The last two months remain consistent with the prior year’s closed sales, according to Reports on Housing.
