Housing prices in San Diego County increase double digits in January compared to same month last year

SAN DIEGO - Housing prices in the San Diego region increased by double digits last month compared to the same period in 2012, according to data released today by a Realtors group.

The San Diego Association of Realtors' figures showed big jumps in both prices and the number of property sales in January compared to the same month last year.

The median price of a single-family home sold in San Diego County last month was $390,000, a 12 percent increase from one year earlier but down 7 percent from the previous month.

For multi-family housing like condominiums and townhomes, the median sales price was $245,000, according to SDAR. That's up 17 percent in year-over-year comparisons but down 3 percent from December.

The same trend of a better performance in annualized statistics also applied to the numbers of properties sold in January.

The SDAR figures showed 1,559 houses sold last month, up 15 percent from January 2012 and down 22 percent from December 2012. A total of 673 condos or townhomes changed hands, up 8 percent from the same time last year, but 25 percent lower than the previous month.

"I firmly believe 2013 is going to be a great year for real estate, and I'm really pleased to see signs of that in these numbers,'' said Linda Lee, SDAR's board president. "Interest rates remain extremely low and more

inventory is entering the market. It's an encouraging time.''

The organization reported that the most expensive San Diego County listing sold last month was a five-bedroom, five-bath, 9,605 square-foot home in Rancho Santa Fe that fetched $6.995 million.