Housing Pepped up Further in March

After a fairly brutal few months into the beginning of 2011, the median price per square foot of San Diego resale homes managed to increase for a second month in a row in March.

The median price per square foot increased by .3 percent for single family homes, 4.8 percent for condos, and 1.6 percent in aggregate.  Recall that the condo series is fairly unreliable, so the much more modest single family increase was likely closer to the mark.

Closed sales increased robustly for the month, resembling the past couple years’ March surges:

And a similar story was found with pending sales, though they were slightly below last year’s levels.

Inventory continued the mild increase that began in February.

But thanks to the seasonal increase in pending sales, the number of months’ worth of inventory declined, and is now well below that 6-month demarcation that has often coincided with flat or falling prices.

San Diego home prices had seen a sizable decline into January, but housing market seems to have thawed a bit in the ensuing months.  We will have to see what the typically strong springtime months bring.

Rich Toscano is a financial advisor with Pacific Capital Associates*.  He can be contacted at rtoscano@pcasd.com.