North San Diego county real estate shows surprising strength in October

FALLBROOK – Home prices showed surprising strength in Fallbrook and Bonsall despite heavy discounting among high-end properties, Jerry Kalman, a Realtor with HomeSmart Legends, said.

Average selling prices for properties in these two communities at $626,000 were 4 percent better than in October 2016 and 3 percent above September 2017. Average time on the market for homes that sold declined 41 percent to 61 days in October 2017.

“VA/FHA transactions, a mainstay of activity in earlier months, dropped to one-fourth of those sales, while cash buyers in Fallbrook and Bonsall held at 16 percent of the transactions, roughly a norm for the year,” he said. “Overall, only 16 percent of the transactions were at or above the original asking price, and most of those were VA contracts.”

In October, the average listing price of those coming off the market declined slightly to $658,000. He said that 59 homes came off the market in October, bringing the total at month-end to 92 units in escrow, both of which were decreasing levels from September. These average declines in escrows indicate volume and prices most likely will soften in the coming months.

“The average selling price per square foot in these two communities rose 9 percent to $293. Bonsall rose 40 percent to $334 per square foot while Fallbrook rose less than a percent to $252,” Kalman said. The San Diego county average declined to $378 per square foot.

Kalman said that six high-end homes, four in Fallbrook, closed escrow in October, however, several experienced heavy discounting that ranged from 10 percent up to one-third of the original asking price. There are 11 million-dollar-plus homes, two in Fallbrook, in escrow after an average of more than four months on the market.

There are 53 of these high-end properties on the market, though another 10 percent started above that price point and were discounted by the end of October to be offered under a million dollars. Most of these properties are in the larger community of Fallbrook.

In October five Bonsall condos sold after an average market time of just above two months. Average time on the market for those coming off the market increased slightly to more than two months, while the time to sell also inched up above the 60-day point, he said.

Only one attached property is in escrow. Entering November, 13 condos were on the market, eight in Fallbrook, with an average market time of more than 45 days.

The inventory for both detached and condo-styled homes decreased to 210 properties. The overall time on the market for active listings remained roughly the same as in September at 76 days.

Kalman’s data for the reporting periods ending Oct. 31 came from Sandicor and the California Regional Multiple Listing Service, San Diego and Riverside counties’ multiple listing services for realtors. The report represents properties listed or sold by various brokers in the region. He uses this information as a community service to analyze market trends and provide professional insight into real estate activity.

The North County office of HomeSmart Legends is at 701 S. Main Ave., in Fallbrook.