My quick life update before my market update (if you are not interested in my life shenanigans, scroll down to the good stuff below).
Just doing my best juggling business and family time and these beautiful ladies I have in my life steal my heart every day! Adylina is now 2.5 years young and Ellyava is about to turn 6 months in two weeks!
Now let's get into some important updates from the last few months.....
If you own a house or a rental or know someone that does:
Short Term Rental Laws officially came into Effect on May 1st, 2023
There are still licensed available contrary to what most would expect!
To View All STR Regulations for the City of San Diego or to apply for a license, Click Here
Have you ever wondered what you might be able to additionally build on your property?
Search and discover what is possible on any property. Browse property and permit details. Apply for permits and rebates. Learn if an ADU is possible
Are your electric bills out of control? If so, consider installing solar panels like many of our clients have. Reply to this email and I will connect you with my trusted solar contact, Eric.
If you are planning on selling or know someone that is thinking about it:
The tides are slowly turning in the buyers favor, however, it's still possible to get multiple offers for homes that are absolutely perfect and priced right. Homes that have negatives and are over priced are starting to sit on the market and price drops are common. Examples of negatives: very small yard, home located on a busy street, highway noise to name a few.
As of end of September, 29% of all listings in San Diego have had a price drop and it's trending upwards, that's still lower by 12% from last year at this time. However, there are areas within San Diego City and outside of it like, San Marcos for example, that have seen 40% of listing have price drops and rising.
The median price for all of San Diego County for all homes at the end of September is also trending down now and it's at $830,000. We hit a peak in August at about $870,000, which actually surpassed our peak we had in 2022. I love this graph below, which shows you how the median price fluctuated in comparison to interest rates since July of 2022.
Inventory is trending up slowly, but is still relatively low, which is why the San Diego market has been so resilient and did not fall off the cliff fast when the rates jumped to 7% and higher over the last few months now.
New listings have been out pacing pending sales since the end of August. See graph below.
To sum it up, 3rd quarter is when the seller's market started turning slowly toward's a buyer's market band I am anticipating that to continue through the end of the year.
In conclusion, if you list now, you should anticipate longer market times so patience will be key. You should also consider offering seller credits, rate buy downs for the buyer, or even allowing the buyer to assume your loan if you have an FHA or VA type loan with a favorable interest rate. This would make your property that much more attractive to prospective buyers. If you want to learn more about what an assumable loan is, go here: https://money.usnews.com/loans/mortgages/articles/what-is-an-assumable-mortgage
RESOURCES:
This is a great website to track interest rates daily: https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage-rates/mnd
If you want to geek out on all the San Diego County real estate data from September 2023, then click here for a full report.
If you are planning on buying or know someone that is:
Buyers were definitely resilient in the 3rd quarter and there was still plenty of activity. A few of our buyers still had to compete against other offers at the beginning of the quarter, however, that is changing now and sellers are starting to notice a difference as showings are slowing down quite a bit.
We can now confidently say that asking for seller credits to cover closing costs or to buy down your rate is becoming common and if you happen to have extra cash, then you might consider assuming the seller's mortgage if they have a low rate. The caveat to this strategy is that you will need to bring the difference between the purchase price and the loan amount that you are assuming. There are no loan products YET that I am aware of that would lend in 2nd position to cover this gap / downpayment for the buyers. (I am anticipating for this to change hopefully soon as assumptions become more popular, usually other creative solutions follow)
So, if you are thinking about buying, this could actually be a great time to do it because the market is in your favor like it was end of last year and we have solutions in place for you to combat these high rates and get your payment to be something that you can actually keep within your budget.
Additionally, to stimulate the market a bit, the lending industry has made some significant changes to help buyers:
FHA expanded access to mortgage financing for homes that have or will have accessory dwelling units. This change allows for the inclusion of rental income from the ADU in the borrower’s qualifying income and would allow more borrowers to qualify for FHA financing for properties with ADUs, including 203(k) Rehabilitation mortgages. ADUs can be rented out to tenants, thereby adding to the supply of housing in a community. FULL ARTICLE
Fannie Mae slashes down payment requirements for multifamily homes to 5% on conventional loans. Set to be effective from the weekend following Nov. 18, 2023, the down payment will now be 5%, a stark decrease from the previous 15-25% requisite for duplexes, triplexes, and four-plexes. FULL ARTICLE
Update on the "California Dream" that will allow buyers to get a 20% down payment assistance is that it's coming for sure but it got pushed to the beginning of 2024. However, I don't expect it to be around and available for long when it drops.
Learn more about the program here: https://www.calhfa.ca.gov/dream/index.htm
Big take-away: It was a very popular program so when you see another roll out of this program or something similar, I suggest you reach out to us quickly so we can jump on it. Actually, you should start talking to your lender now and submit all your financials so they have everything on file and ready to get you locked into this loan when it becomes available. (You will need to have an offer accepted on a home, of course, at that time as well)
And as always, If you are planning on relocating to another state even though I would be sad to see you leave, let me know and I can help locate a great agent in whatever city that you are planning to move to. I will actually identify a couple great agents there, interview them on your behalf and connect you to that agent once I feel like he or she can serve you as I would here. (Bonus: I would stay involved over-seeing your purchase transaction on top of it for you and consult you along the way. That's if you value my opinion, of course.)
Have a fantastic 4th quarter and amazing holiday season! Let me know if you have anything specific that you want to discuss with me. I am here to help you navigate through it all and yes, I would love it if you can refer me to anyone that is thinking about buying or selling. Thank you in advance!
Cheers
p.s. Thank you to our clients, Zachary and Ann MacQuarrie for this amazing review!
