North San Diego County real estate paces regional and national trends

FALLBROOK – Real estate markets in North San Diego County continued to reflect metrics throughout the region as volume remained at high seasonal levels while prices eclipsed both year-earlier and prior-month activity in April, Jerry Kalman, a realtor® with HomeSmart Legends here, reported May 6.

Kalman said that during April the average selling price of homes in Fallbrook and Bonsall rose to $653,000, a five percent increase over March and 11 percent better than April of last year. Sales volume was essentially equal to that of March at almost 80 units and slightly less than the 86 recorded in April 2017.

As a reflection of strong upward price pressure, he said that 41 percent of the homes sold at prices equal to or greater than the original listing prices.

He noted that VA/FHA transactions came in at 27 percent of those that sold while cash deals fell to 18 percent. More than half of the sales were conventional transactions.

Days on the market is another indicator of the pace of activity. Homes that closed escrow in April averaged 42 days on the market, a 10 percent improvement over March. More importantly, those coming off the market in April averaged 36 days on the market while carrying an average price of $680,000, both of which augur well for May results, he said.

"Another important metric for any real estate market is the average selling price per square foot. Coming in at $276 per square foot, the local market was essentially flat versus March. Fallbrook rose to $269 per square foot, while Bonsall dipped slightly after a robust March to $283 per square foot."

According to Kalman the San Diego County average rose to $402 per square foot, which was a steady 31 percent higher than the more affordable part of North San Diego County, Fallbrook and Bonsall.

Entering May, 203 homes were in the active inventory, a slight drop from March as the number coming off the market exceeded additions to the local supply of homes. That active inventory carried an average selling price of more than $1 million per home, once again.

New home developments along the Interstate 15 corridor are beginning to make a noticeable contribution to local results as many detached properties in several tracts come on the market and are sold. While representing only five percent of the sales in April and a comparable percentage in the available inventory of homes, these properties are expected to become a more significant percentage of transactions in the months to come.

Among other homes in the active inventory market, 58 properties are priced above one million dollars, most of them in Fallbrook. Ten homes in this segment closed escrow in April after just over 50 days on the market; eight of them were in Fallbrook. Another 11 of these properties are in escrow now, nine with Fallbrook addresses.

At the other end of the housing spectrum, six condos sold in April after an average of 15 days on the market; four were in Fallbrook. Another eight are in escrow, six in Fallbrook; and there are nine on the market, all but one in Fallbrook.

Kalman´s data for the reporting periods ending April 30, 2018, and reported by May 6, 2018, came from Sandicor, Inc. and CRMLS. San Diego and Riverside counties' multiple listing services for realtors. This 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.

HomeSmart Legends is located at 701 S. Main, Fallbrook.