Your San Luis Obispo Home Market Update for May 2018
As of May, there were 73 single family homes on the market in the City of San Luis Obispo. They range in price from $629,000 (for a 3 bedroom, 1 bath) to $3,280,000 (for a 5 bedroom, 5.5 bathroom, 8 acre property). There were 43 homes under contract and 34 that closed escrow in the 30 days prior. The sale price averaged around $475 a square foot. Homes are going into escrow within 47 days of being put on the market, which is the average over the last 3 months. It is a strong seller's market due to the lack of inventory with homes selling fast if priced fairly. It might be one of the best times in the last 10 years to sell as homes are at the all time highs since 2005-2007. Some are even higher! Please contact us for a FREE market analysis, especially if you are ready to take the big step toward selling your home and would like to know what your home's value is in this current market.
Some quick facts about about our median values in San Luis Obispo
- Median home price - 2 bedroom in SLO - $595,5000
- Median home price - 3 bedroom in SLO - $710,500
- Median home price - 4 bedroom in SLO - 961,000
- Median condo price in SLO - $448,500
- Median SLO county sale price - $597,000
(average over the last 3 months)
Are we headed toward a housing bubble?
It has been 8 years since the "Great Recession" ended, and the California economy has performed very well. Unemployment has dipped below 5% for the first time in a decade, the stock market near all time highs, interest rates remaining at historical lows and the state government running a budget surplus. Defaults on home mortgages and foreclosures have decreased substantially in SLO County with only 16 completed foreclosures occurring since the beginning of 2018. Rapidly rising home prices and 54% homeownership, is making California dangerously close to becoming a majority-renter state. This could lead to long term challenges and has led many to wonder if home prices have reached an unsustainable level, especially with interest rates starting to climb over the last couple months. Are we reaching "a bubble?" California has experienced 68 months of year after year growth. Sellers in San Luis Obispo are getting a median of 99% of their listed price while the number of days on market has dropped to approximately 20 days. If sellers put their home on the market today, they can expect to sell it quickly and for top dollar. The increase in home values has created a significant amount of wealth with once in a lifetime mortgage rates. Unfortunately the rapid growth has outpaced income growth to the point that the median house is 8 times the median household income... making the gains worrisome from an affordability and sustainability standpoint. Currently, 72% of CA households can NOT afford the median priced home in California. Are we headed towards a bubble? Could be. For sure there will be a correction coming down the road (there always is), but we aren't quite there yet. It may be a good time to act, and if you do, I hope you contact me, with decades of real estate experience through the highs and lows of the economy and the local real estate market.
*NOTE: This is a summarize report published by the California Association of REALTORS Chief Economist.
The good news is, we live in paradise, next to the coast, with the best weather arguably in the world, with TOP schools and new and growing technological and "clean air" businesses, ... PLUS our county's median home prices are still half of the Bay area's (San Francisco) and half of Southern California's (Orange County) median home prices. The quality of life on the Central Coast is becoming everyone's dream for coming to school (Cal Poly State University), starting a business, relocating to a new business (MINDBODY, Amazon, other major employers), or retiring from the crazy, competitive business, high traffic and crowded areas of the Northern and Southern coastal, industrial cities. Remember, San Luis Obispo is the Happiest Place on Earth!
Have a great Memorial weekend, honoring our great country and the personal and veterans that have served it. The Central Coast has many fun-filled and heart-felt festivities honoring this great holiday~