‘Not a lot of motivation’: San Diego home prices flat as buyers pull back from market

Lower mortgage rates in October did little to kickstart a sleepy San Diego real estate market.

San Diego County’s median home price stayed at $875,000, unchanged from the previous month and down 1.5% annually, according to figures released this week by Attom Data Solutions. The median combines sales of single-family homes, townhouses and condos.

There were 2,463 home sales in October, up 3.6% from the previous month, but San Diego is still on track to record one of its lowest sales years in history. With two months left in the year, the county had 22,776 home sales. The lowest year was 2023, with 25,317 sales, records dating to 1988 show.

Jan Ryan, a real estate agent in Ramona, said there’s less urgency from buyers these days, who believe prices won’t move much in the coming year. Also, she has had many potential buyers back out of deals after learning about fire insurance costs. Average property insurance costs are up nearly 70% in the past five years, according to ICE Mortgage Technology.

“There’s not a lot of motivation,” she said.

Ryan said part of the reason for lackluster sales: Frustrated sellers are taking homes off the market because they are not getting the higher asking prices that were prevalent when the market was more competitive.

There were about 6,300 homes listed for sale in October, according to the Redfin Data Center, down from a peak of 7,423 in June.

The average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rate was 6.17% in the last week of October, said Freddie Mac. That was down from a high of 7.04% in January.

The monthly cost, assuming 20% down on a San Diego County median-priced home, would have been around $5,000 a month in January, compared to $4,600 using October’s average rate.

While the overall price of a mortgage could be seen as more affordable now because of lower mortgage rates, buyers still have to contend with San Diego County’s inflation — the highest in the nation —  and growing insurance costs.

Kelly Cunningham, of the San Diego Institute for Economic Research, said interest rates go a long way toward making a home more affordable — but it’s not everything. In addition to insurance and other costs, he said prices are still elevated for first-time buyers.

“When you look at the median,” he said, “it’s just kind of astounding.”

The median price for a single-family home was $985,000 in October, down from a peak of $1,025,000 in June. The median for townhouses and condos was $656,000, down from a peak of $710,000 in July 2024.

Here’s a look at median prices in October across the region:

Los Angeles County: Down 1.7% in a month to a median home price of $885,000; up 0.2% annually.

Orange County: A 1.7% monthly rise to a median of $1.2 million; up 4.3% in a year.

Riverside County: Monthly rise of 2.1% to a median of $599,000; down 0.2% annually.

San Bernardino County: Up 0.1% in a month to $521,000; annual drop of 5.1%.

San Diego County: Flat month-over-month for a median of $875,000; down 1.5% annually.

Ventura County: Up 1.6% in a month to a median of $850,000; down 0.5% in a year.