San Diego condo listings rise as single family listings shrink
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Townhomes in Mission Valley. Photo: Claire Trageser/Axios
While new home listings continue to fall in San Diego, one type of home is seeing a slight bump: condos and townhomes.
Why it matters: The increase signals a shift in the types of homes being built and gives first-time buyers more affordable options, real estate experts told Axios.
Winners: Condo and townhome sales jumped nearly 13% compared with last July. Part of the reason is new construction, Claudia Zaker, president of the Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors, told Axios.
- "Builders have been delivering condos, townhomes and higher density communities at a pace the resale market has not matched," she said.
- The other reason is that buyers are more willing to buy attached homes because they can afford them, she said.
"(Prices are) still challenging, but meaningfully more accessible," she said. "Buyers who want a detached home but cannot make the numbers work in the urban core are also expanding their searches to East County, inland North County and communities even farther out. They are accepting longer commutes in exchange for a detached home at a price they can afford."
Case in point: Zaker worked with a first-time buyer who really wanted a detached single-family home because she has two large dogs.
- The only places she could afford in San Diego County were townhomes.
- "So we expanded her search north into Riverside County," Zaker said. "She was willing to add about 30 minutes to her commute because, for her, having the right home and lifestyle was worth the tradeoff."
Meanwhile, downsizers want less maintenance and more walkability, she said.
- And the condo building boom is giving them more options.
- Inventory in the single-family home market is down nearly 25% compared with last year.
State of play: The jump in condo sales could also be from buyers priced out of the single-family market who are just tired of looking for a home to buy, Saad Asad, spokesperson for the advocacy group California YIMBY, told Axios.
- He said he doesn't think new construction is driving the increase because many of the condos being built are for rent, not for sale.
- A state bill, AB 1903, would help put more condos on the market by making them easier to insure, finance and build, he said.
By the numbers: Listings for single-family homes were down 11.2% so far this year, according to numbers from the San Diego Association of Realtors.
- The median price increased 2.4%, to $1.1 million.
- The number of attached listings went up 1.5%.
- And the price dipped slightly, 0.7%, to $665,000.
Between the lines: The drop in single-family listings reflects the "golden handcuff effect," where homeowners who bought when mortgage rates were around 3% aren't moving, Zaker said.
- Meanwhile, condo and townhome owners are often at a different stage of life, either downsizing or not as concerned with higher interest rates.