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Home sales in SD County well below last year's figures, but may be recovering

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A precipitous drop in home sales during the second

half of March due to the COVID-19 pandemic has since leveled off and begun to

recover, a report released today by real estate site Zillow found.

While sales are down 22.5% year-over-year, San Diego is still one of

the better-off large metropolitan areas. Among large metros, pending sales have

fallen the most compared to a year ago in Pittsburgh, down 74.4%, Detroit down,

66.8%, and Los Angeles, down 58.7%. They have fallen the least in Cleveland, at

16.8%.

San Diego's sales have improved over last week's figures by 23.1%, a

sign the market could be recovering.

New listings were down 29.4% from a year ago while total inventory is

down 26.2% year over year. The median list price in the San Diego region was

$748,910, up 1.3% year-over-year.

Pending sales peaked this year in the seven days ending March 12 and

have fallen since, as health and safety measures to counter the coronavirus

pandemic took effect. Though they remain 32.3% below last year's level, the

week-over-week change in pending sales turned positive in the week ending April

15, and is up 6.2% week over week as of the seven days ending April 19.

New listings fell even further through the first half of April, down

as much as 43.8% from a year ago in the week ending April 17. They have ticked

up slightly in the days since, but remained down 37.7% year over year, and down

13.7% week over week in the seven days ending April 19.

The slowdown has started to impact total for-sale listings, as well.

Inventory of for-sale listings grew 3.3% during the month of March even as new

listings fell 17.2%, likely because homes listed before coronavirus health and

safety measures were put in place sat on the market longer while buyer activity

slowed. But total inventory has fallen since, down 1% month-over-month and down

12.1% year-over-year as of the seven days ending April 19.

``Real estate transactions and new listings have declined abruptly

amidst the coronavirus pandemic, but we haven't yet seen prices significantly

affected,'' said Jeff Tucker, economist at Zillow.

``Buyers have pulled back in the face of new economic uncertainty but

sellers are also shying away from listing their homes in a market that was

already starved for inventory, so it is possible that home prices remain

insulated, at least in the short-term. Like a canoe being carried by two people

who drop both ends simultaneously, the market slowdown may not tip clearly in

favor of buyers or sellers,'' Tucker said.

 

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