‘Disconnect between buyers and sellers’: San Diego home sales near record lows

San Diego’s home market was as quiet as ever during the dog days of summer.

The median home price was $900,000 in July in San Diego County, according to Attom Data Solutions, which combines sales of single-family homes, townhouses and condos. The median has been unchanged for five months and flat annually.

At least one reason the home price has changed very little: Home sales have stayed at historic lows all year. There were 2,357 home sales throughout the county in July, the third-lowest for that month going back 37 years, using Attom and Cotality data that starts in 1988. The slowest July was fairly recently, in 2023, when there were 2,307 sales.

San Diego is not alone in a sluggish real estate market, with experts pointing to higher mortgage rates combined with elevated prices as factors. On an annual basis, sales are down 5% in California and 4.2% nationwide.

Mortgage rates have dipped since the last week in July when the average for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.72%, according to Freddie Mac. The average rate was 6.26% on Thursday.

Mark Goldman, a real estate analyst with C2 Financial Corp., said economic uncertainty would likely continue to keep potential homebuyers — who are worried about taking on a 30-year mortgage — on the sidelines.

“The wait-and-see attitude continues,” Goldman said. “The only thing that seems to be going up is the stock market. Here down on the ground, for ordinary people, it’s a tough call (about) what is going to happen with your job, property values, what will happen with interest rates.”

He said economic uncertainty can cut both ways: Sellers won’t be as eager to accept a lower offer if they are also concerned about their financial health.

One thing that might have helped potential buyers negotiate in July was homes were taking longer to sell, said the Redfin Data Center. The median time on market for a San Diego County home was about 35 days in July. That was up from 20 days at the same time last year, 13 days in 2023 and 16 days in 2022.

Jan Ryan, a real estate agent in Ramona, said many sellers don’t want to lower prices for a quicker sale. She said, at the same time, she keeps hearing from buyers who are concerned about factors not related to mortgage rates: Higher fire and home insurance rates, as well as electricity costs.

“There’s a disconnect between buyers and sellers,” Ryan said. “The sellers that are being more real on the price are selling.”

There were about 7,100 homes for sale in July, according to Redfin, higher than the 5,600 last year in the same period, 3,500 in 2023 and 5,900 in 2022.

San Diego County’s single-family home price remained at $1 million in July, unchanged year over year. There was more of a change in the condo and townhouse market: The median was $655,000, down 8.5% in a year.

Here’s a look at median prices in July across the region:

Los Angeles County: Down 0.5% monthly for a median of $910,000; up 0.9% annually.

Orange County: Monthly drop of 3.3% to a median of $1.2 million; down 0.4% year over year.

Riverside County: Flat month over month with a median of $600,000; flat annually.

San Bernardino County: Down 1% monthly to $520,000; also down 1% annually.

San Diego County: Flat monthly with median of $900,000; flat year over year.

Ventura County: Down 4.5% monthly to a median of $850,000; down 0.6% annually.

July: By the Numbers

Summer has traditionally been a busy time for homebuying as parents look to make a purchase before the school year.

Slowest months by number of home sales: 

July 2023: 2,307

July 1995: 2,373

July 2025: 2,375

July  2024: 2,575

Busiest months by number of home sales: 

July 2003: 6,278

July 2004: 6,176

July 1988: 6,028

July 1998: 5,675

Sources: Attom Data Solutions and Cotality