San Diego Home prices jump up, Still Sellers Market, defy expectations

Throughout the year, San Diego Housing Market has defied expectations.

The median sales price of a house in April was $565,500, up 3 percent for the month and 9 percent for the year. The condo median sales price nudged upward 1 percent over the month to $365,000, while the annual increase was 8 percent, according to SDAR data.

Homes are selling faster. Days on Market decreased 20.0 percent to 32 day for Detached homes in April 2016 compared to a year ago.

SDAR projected the San Diego Housing Market in 2016 would be a “Buyers Market” with “More Inventory” at the 32nd San Diego County Economic Roundtable on January 14, 2016. Why? Because it was widely expected that mortgage rates would gradually rise in 2016 after the Federal Reserve began it’s long-speculated move to raise the benchmark federal-funds back in December.

However mortgage rates have remained stubbornly and wonderfully low. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.64% on 5/23/2016. The historic low for 30-year rates was 3.31 percent in November 2012.

Market-wide, inventory levels were down 19.7 percent.

Overall San Diego Housing Market is a still Sellers Market.

“MBA currently forecasts the Fed will make two more moves to increase rates this year, with the first rate hike forecasted for the June meeting.”Lynn Fisher, Vice President of Research and Economics at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), said “We think that mortgage rates will rise gradually through the end of the year, averaging about 4.2% in the fourth quarter”

We will see if that happens in June, until then the general outlook should remain strong.

If you are thinking it’s time to start a real estate career and considering Keller Williams Realty as your Brokerage, or need to renew your California License, visit Keller Williams San Diego Metro Real Estate School Today.

New Team Leader of Keller Williams San Diego Metro Emphasizes Teamwork, Vows to Invigorate

SAN DIEGO - May 14, 2016 --- Keller Williams San Diego Metro welcomes Kurt Francis as the new Team Leader.

"We are thrilled to announce that Kurt has joined our market center" said Mark Kunce and Clarissa Rullan, Career Launch Advisors and Directors of Keller Williams San Diego Metro Real Estate School.

"We believe Kurt's vast knowledge and experience will be a huge asset that will greatly benefit our market center, our school and new agents." said Clarissa. "We are excited to work with him."

Kurt had the privilege of being the Senior Branch Leader for a well respected International Real Estate franchise in San Diego since 2004. He also managed 14 other offices for that same company.

"I joined Keller Williams Realty because I wanted to be a part of something exciting,  be part of a company that could partner with me in achieving my long term vision" Kurt told everyone at Market Center Meeting. "As a competitor, I was always intrigued by Keller Williams. Keller Williams has been growing so quickly the last 10 years."

Keller Williams Realty is the fastest growing real estate company in the world. Over 230 real estate associates belong to the Keller Williams San Diego Metro market center, and there are over 130,000 associates in KW Worldwide. Keller Williams continues to grow at an astonishing pace, in 2016. The franchiser reported that it surpassed 139,000 associates in Q1 2016, a net gain of 4,989 agents. That's a 36 percent increase over Q1 2015.

"My goal is to educate, invigorate, and elevate our associates to their highest potential. But I need your help as well. If you have any good ideas to help grow others, please let me know." Kurt shared his contact information at the meeting. "Because I believe in teamwork. Teamwork is at the heart of all great achievement. I've got to know a lot of Mega Agents over the past 10 years. Some may think they are successful because of their talent. But that's not true. Their susses is not just result of their talent. It's the teamwork. Their success is supported by their colleges, assistants, friends and family."

Prior to the team meeting, Kurt had a little surprise from the staff. His brand new office was already decorated with family and friends pictures. Those pictures were taken from his Facebook by the staff. This reminded him of the importance of teamwork and support provided at his new workplace - Keller Williams San Diego Metro.

"He fits Keller Williams' culture perfectly" Mark summarizes. "We are excited about the possibilities of expansion in our market center. We are already making some changes in our office spaces and real estate school to facilitate growth."

Keller Williams San Diego Metro recently upgraded it's real estate school system and updated the website http://www.sdrealestateschool.com, which provides California real estate licensing, exam prep, and continuing education courses. The online program is more user-friendly and easier to navigate than the previous system.

"As a company, we are growing at a phenomenal rate and we know that Kurt's leadership will catapult our growth at KW Metro. There are exciting times ahead."

San Diego Housing Market February 2016, Home Buying Tips in a Low-Inventory Market

This low housing inventory environment is not projected to go away any time soon. According to the latest report from San Diego Association of Realtors, in San Diego County, inventory levels were down 18.8 percent in February 2016. The property type that lost the least inventory was the Single-Family Homes segment, where it decreased 16.2 percent. That amounts to 2.2 months supply for Single-Family Homes and 1.6 months supply for Condos – Townhomes.

Pending Sales in San Diego County were up 10.0 percent overall. Days on Market decreased 21.6% overall. Desperate home Buyers are snatching up homes when they are listed. It is not uncommon to receive 10-20 offers in 10 days on one property when it is marketed correctly. In some cases all are over the asking price.

The price range that tended to sell the quickest was the $250,001 to $500,000 range at 34 days; the price range that tended to sell the slowest was the $1,250,001 Or More range at 62 days.

The overall Median Sales Price was up 5.9% $468,000.

New Foreclosure Listings in February increased 1.2 percent to 526 properties. Inventory of San Diego Foreclosure Properties are continuing to steadily decline.

Interest rates are still well below their long-term averages. Mortgage rates continue to astound below 4.0%.

While it is still a great time to buy a home in San Diego, with inventory levels remaining lower, there simply aren’t as many homes to choose from on the market today. Home buyers need to work with a great buyer’s agent directly to get active listings from the local MLS. You cannot search all the homes on MLS on 3rd party real estate websites such as Zillow, Trulia, Homes.com (only a licensed realtor who is a member of local MLS can search all the homes on MLS). With such tight inventory, you do not want to miss any homes on the MLS. Also, it is a good idea to ask your agent to search some off-market listings (Cancelled Listings, Expired Listings, etc).

If you’re thinking about buying a home in 2016, give us a call 619-663-7139. Our trained agents specialize in the San Diego real estate market and are prepared to find the right home and get the best price.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KELLER WILLIAMS SAN DIEGO - THE MY HOME TEAM

Mark Kunce CA BRE #01458113

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Keller Williams San Diego Metro - The My Home Team. San Diego Real Estate Agent. Keller Williams Real Estate Agent. Keller Williams Cultural Icon. San Diego REALTOR®.

Why San Diego is one of the best place to buy Investment Property

7 Reasons Why San Diego Is one of the best place to buy Investment Property

1. Rentability

It is a great time to be a landlord but horrible time if you a looking to rent in San Diego. Vacancies are at the low rate of 4.1 percent for San Diego County. If your rental property is in fairly good condition and priced right, you will get multiple applications.

2. Rising Rents

According to an analysis of rental prices of single family homes by real estate data provider RentRange, San Diego ranked the 10th place where rent is growing the fastest. Rents in San Diego increased 13.6% between the third quarter of 2014 and the third quarter of 2015. The San Diego County Apartment Association reported even higher rent increase, 20% up over a year ago, 44.6% up from 2005.
Rental prices nationally have grown at roughly twice the pace of average hourly wage growth, which was a paltry 2.1 percent over the past year. Rising Rents means better cash flow.

3. Rising Property Value

San Diego County home prices rose 0.6 percent between August and September, and are up 6.6 percent since September 2014, according to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Prices Indices. The monthly rise was one of the fastest among 20 large real estate markets included in the indices, while the annual climb ranked seventh. The indices were created by taking the cost of housing in each market in January 2000, assigning them a value of 100, and tracking the subsequent rise and fall. San Diego’s mark in September was 216.62, reflecting more than a doubling of home prices in nearly 16 years. The rate of increase is the nation’s second fastestbehind Los Angeles.

4. Population Growth

Population growth is a significant factor in the rising demand. The county’s population grew by an average of nearly 33,000 people annually over the past two years, according to the San Diego Association of Governments estimates. Some of this is natural growth — more births than deaths — while some of it is probably also driven by new employment opportunities that have attracted new residents from out of town. The California Department of Finance predicted that San Diego County’s population will grow by 31 percent to hit 4.07 million people by 2060 (. Due to the lack of available land to develop, I do not see the kind of overbuilding that is expected in several other same-size metropolitan markets.

5. Short-term Vacation Rental Opportunities

With over 12,000 short term vacation rentals in the area, San Diego is rapidly becoming the fastest growing market in the country. According to Pillow, Short-term Vacation Rental Investors could be earning thousands more from their rental property. One beach community short term average rent is $4896, compared with only $1761 for long term rents. However, cities and communities in San Diego County have passed or will attempt to enforce restrictions on short-term rentals. If you are a Short-term Vacation Rental Investor, you have to pay attention to new regulations.

6. Out-of-town Investor Friendly

One of investors we know could not resist to purchase a Fixer house out side of California because it was so cheap. He thought he could fix and flip it. It was an online auction, he did not have time to visit so bought it without seeing it. It turns out that this house is in the very high crime area. It is so high that no contractor or real estate agents would go there. In San Diego, we do have some areas that have higher crime rates than the others but not to this extent. We always advise you to get know the area before purchasing but not having too high crime area makes San Diego out-of-town investor friendly.

7. Climate

San Diego has on average 146 sunny days and 117 partly cloudy days a year, we enjoy mild, sunny weather throughout the year. Climate is so mild that many rental properties do not have Air conditioning, which is one less appliance to worry about. Hurricanes are very rare and heavy snow and ice are very very rare in the wintertime. From a real estate investor stand point, you can expect the life expectancy of exterior materials such as roofs to last longer. If you install a tank-less water heater and Drought-Tolerant Landscaping, you will have a relatively maintenance-free rental property. Although we do have some floods that damage the property now and then, it is easy to avoid those locations. Just ask the neighbors.

Do you think of any other cities good for rental investment? Leave a comment!

Mark Kunce - Keller Williams San Diego Metro - The My Home Team

Preparing your home for Chinese homebuyers, investors

China surpassed Canada as the foreign country that spends the most on residential properties in the U.S.; Chinese buyers comprise 16 percent of international home buyers. One-third of Chinese purchases were concentrated in California for the year ended in March, according to the National Association of Realtors, trailed by Washington state, with 8% of purchases, and New York, at 7%. What do these Chinese buyers look for when shopping for a house? What type of house do they prefer? The Chinese are attracted by many of the same qualities as local buyers: good schools, good location and a good value. Feng Shui is the second-most important consideration, according to the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) survey. 81 percent of Chinese-Americans surveyed who are also home owners said that Feng Shui factored into their most recent home purchase. Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese practice involves making energetic and physical adjustments to a space in order to create balance and flow. Home seller can use Feng Shui to assist in selling your homes or investment property, you can maximize your chances of appealing to the greater audience to get the best selling price possible. Below are some examples of deal-breakers that go against Feng Shui and the reasoning behind those principles:

Good Feng Shui

• Uncut crystals in the bedroom provide stability
• Bamboo lifts energy upward
• Displaying ancestor's possessions and sharing their stories
• Undulating terrain-a dragon site
• Wind chimes
• Uncluttered spaces
• South-facing windows
• Stoneware pots strengthen ties to Mother Earth
• Silver elements in the bedroom connect to other lifetimes and invite angels' protection
• Stones integrated with the landscape
• South-facing bed, kitchen and dining room on east side of house, living room in the center, and the study on the north
• Water features

Bad Feng Shui

• Commercial buildings or hospitals next to a temple or church
• Buildings towering over those around it
• Glass front doors
• Fast-flowing streams
• Hills deprived of topsoil or foliage
• Facing a hill blocks good fortune.
• T-intersections invite evil spirits to enter
• Yards sloping down to the road-chi flows away
• Lobby stairway leading directly to the front door
• Clutter in any form
• Front door aligned with a back door
• Pie-shaped lots brings bad luck-triangles are unlucky shapes
• Sharp corners

Mark Kunce Keller Williams Realty San Diego Metro - The My Home Team CA BRE# 01458113

San Diego Housing Market Update September 2015

San Diego Housing Market is steady throughout San Diego County.

For the 12-month period spanning October 2014 through September 2015, Pending Sales in San Diego County were up 10.4 percent overall.

The Median Sales Price was up 4.5 percent to $527,500 for Detached homes and 3.6 percent to $347,000 for Attached homes. The price range that tended to sell the quickest was the $500,001 to $750,000 range at 37 days; the price range that tended to sell the slowest was the $1,250,001 or more range at 65 days.

Closed Sales decreased 4.9 percent for Detached homes but increased 4.1 percent for Attached homes. Don’t be surprised to hear that San Diego Home sales.

Market-wide, inventory levels were down 30.6 percent. The property type that lost the least inventory was the Single-Family Homes segment, where it decreased 21.4 percent. That amounts to 2.7 months supply for Single-Family Homes and 2.1 months supply for Condos – Townhomes.

Don’t be surprised if you hear “San Diego County Home sales are down” or “San Diego’s Housing Market has slowed down” during the next few months. We will be in a typical seasonal drop-off with lower inventory than last year.

It is a great time for sellers who have a Single-Family Home with un-permitted additions. With a lack of inventory, buyers will make some compromise and not be so particular.

For buyers, it might be tougher to find a perfect Home to purchase. Buyers needs to work with a great buyer's agent who will search some off-market listings (Cancelled Listings, Expired Listings, etc). Great news is that the one thing we were anticipating in September, an increase in interest rates, did not happen. It most likely will though before year’s end.

Mark Kunce

Keller Williams San Diego Metro - The My Home Team