October Home Prices

Resale home prices as measured by the median-based price metrics fell again last month. The size-adjusted median, which adjusts a home’s price for its square footage and thus gives at least a rough idea of how much the buyer is getting for his or her money, dropped for the month by 1.7 percent for single family homes and .5 percent for condos. Since this series’ peak in September 2005, as the accompanying graph shows, the size-adjusted median price has dropped by 12.7 percent for single family homes, 15.8 percent for condos, and 13.8 percent overall.

The “plain-vanilla” median price, less informative but more widely favored by analysts, posted a one-month decline of 1.9 percent for single family homes but was flat on the month for condos.

As discussed in the most recent entry, these countywide price statistics fail to express the degree to which the high-end markets have weathered the downturn better than the more affordable markets. Addressing this shortcoming is a work in progress. In the meantime, such broad indicators can at least tell us what is happening to San Diego’s housing market in aggregate — and in aggregate, it’s very clear that pricing pressure remains firmly to the downside.

— RICH TOSCANO