Sales steady, prices up in Fallbrook/Bonsall real estate in April

FALLBROOK – The Fallbrook/Bonsall real estate market is showing steady month-to-month sales volume. That is according to the latest reported data provided by Sandicor, the local Realtor association-owned multiple listing service (MLS) operator.

Sales stood at 71 for March, compared to April's 65 total homes sold. Year-over-year sales volume was also about even with last year's (April 2014) total of 67.

Perhaps even more encouraging to sellers has been the increase in home prices. They're up. According to Sandicor, the average selling price per square foot was up over 7 percent year-over-year for the combined Bonsall and Fallbrook zip codes.

"That's the silver lining right now," said local Realtor Marla Cruickshank. "Sellers are getting higher prices per square foot than they might have gotten a year ago." MLS data shows average prices per square foot across all regional homes sold rising from $209 in April 2014, to $225 in April 2015.

"This has been a nice bump up for some sellers," said Cruickshank. "We had a bit of a stall in the local market last year, so this increase has been welcome. Part of this is attributable to typical seasonal trends, but it's still encouraging."

According to Sandicor data, sales volume is up over 50 percent from the 37 home sales reported in January."

"Affordability remains an issue for some buyers," said Cruickshank. "Qualifying for a loan is still the biggest hurdle, but overall, the demand for Fallbrook/Bonsall homes remains healthy. Because prices are rising, some buyers are more motivated to start shopping – fearing the market may rise even higher."

Sandicor reports the average April selling price for the

combined 92028 - 92003 zip codes was over $607,000, that's up over 18 percent from a year ago.

"The stats show a pretty big bump, but I like to counsel caution. Part of this price increase can be attributed to a higher percentage of larger or more expensive homes that have sold." said Cruickshank. "No single statistic can ever tell the whole story."

Marla Cruickshank is a listing specialist with RE/MAX United for the Fallbrook/Bonsall region and can be reached at (760) 521-2787.