Home Price Rally Scores Another Month

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There was a bit of divergence in the size-adjusted median price of San Diego homes sold in July. By this measure, single family home prices were up a robust 3.7 percent from June, whereas condos gave back most of June's explosive gain with a subsequent 6.0 percent decline.

I don't make too much of the drop in the condo size-adjusted median. The accompanying graph shows that the condo figure has tended to be much more volatile than the single family figure and has been subject to violent one-month swings in either direction. This is largely because the sample size for condos is much smaller (fewer than half as many condos sold as did detached homes last month). The size-adjusted median price for detached homes gives a better month-to-month read on what's happening.

In any case, a volume-weighted aggregate of the single family and condo price figures rose for the month by .8 percent, so I'm scoring July as a continuation of the home price rally that has been going on since early 2009.

-- RICH TOSCANO