March 2011 Resale Data Rodeo

The median price per square foot for San Diego homes rose for the
second time in a row in March.  This price measure was up .3% for
detached homes, 4.8% for attached homes, and 1.6% in aggregate. 
The detached home series is the most reliable of the three, so any
actual price increases were probably muted — nonetheless, prices look
to have increased for a second month in a row.

Interestingly, the plain vanilla median price surged quite
dramatically, by 7.7% in aggregate.  Combining the above graph
with the below, you could say that the typical buyer spent a lot more
than the prior month, but also got more square footage out of it, such
that the price per square foot increased much more mildly.

The Case-Shiller proxy only looks at single family homes (as does the
real
CS index), so given the big decline in January it decreased a tiny
little bit for the month.

Below are two gridded and calendar-year-aligned charts of the median
price per square foot and the CS proxy to make seasonal patterns more
obvious.

Sales volume continued to look pretty similar to the past couple of
years:

Inventory increased mildly:

But months of inventory dropped, thanks to that big increase in pending
sales.  That’s a typical March thing, but still, months of
inventory has gotten back down towards a level that is more conducive
to rising prices.

Despite the fairly ugly home
price
decline in recent months, San
Diego housing is showing some signs of life for now.