San Diego real estate has posted increasing prices for the fourth consecutive month, which many have taken as an indication of an impending turnaround in the local real estate market. San Diego was affected along with the rest of the nation during the economic downturn that began in the year 2008, and in particular by the bursting of the local real estate bubble during the same time frame. According to Homedex, which compiles statistics on the San Diego real estate market, the median price of a house in San Diego County increased by nearly $15,000 in the last month, marking an impressive increase for a fourth consecutive time. Overall, both detached and non-detached homes increased for the last month, although houses remained on the market for the same amount of time as in June and May.
There is still something of a debate as to whether the increased volume of sales can be necessarily correlated to a permanent or sustained growth in the San Diego Real Estate. For example, Realtor Paul Miller wrote that “We now appear to be in a strong up leg of a turnaround in the real estate market. Sales have dramatically picked up along with the competition...Again, we are starting to see strong signs of a turnaround in the real estate market.”The most likely explanation for the positive figures in the San Diego Real Estate Market is the infusion of a substantial amount of capital, encouraged by an eight thousand dollar federal tax credit for first time home buyers.
There is an alternative school of thought as well, which believes that the only reason for the four month increase in sales is the federal incentive, and that no permanent recovery is impending. One of the strongest proponents of this theory is Realtor Schahrzad Berkland, who wrote in the Realty Times that “Caution - this housing rebound is temporary. There is much more pain ahead. There are no green shoots. We have a temporary boom, so sellers are in control. As soon as the government stops printing Treasuries and buying mortgage backed securities, interest rates will go up and first time buyers will disappear.”