The median home price in October exceeded a half-million dollars for the first time in a decade in San Diego County, real estate tracker CoreLogic reported.

Pushed up by high demand and limited supply, the median price hit $507,500, up 11 percent from a year ago.

Part of last month’s price jump was due to a substantial increase in the price of newly built homes and resale condos.

The median price of a new home in the county was $765,000, a jump of 26 percent from the same time last year. There were 256 new home sales in October, up 20 percent from the same time last year.

But resale homes, which made up 63 percent of October sales, also powered prices up. The median price for a resale house was $549,000, up 9.1 percent, its biggest year-over-year increase in 2016. Sales came in at 2,259, up 5.5 percent from a year ago.

More than 1,000 resale condos sold, bringing the median to $385,000, up 10 percent in a year and its highest point since May 2007.

Andrew LePage, data analyst at CoreLogic, noted home sales were still at historic lows, about 6 percent below average for October going back to 1988. He said the lack of homes for sale continues to put pressure on the market.

“It comes down to job growth and limited supply,” he said.

Unlike the last time when home prices rose this high, fewer homes are being built. In 2005,15,258 residential building permits were granted in the county. So far this year, 7,412 have been granted.

Also, there simply aren’t as many homes for sale. In October, the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors recorded 6,211 active home listings, down by more than 2,000 from two years ago.

“We can’t produce enough housing to meet demand, whether it is for rent product or for sale product,” said Dana Kuhn, real estate lecturer at San Diego State University. “The regulatory process in San Diego County and much of coastal California is so cumbersome that it is hard to meet demand.”

He predicted the median home price would eventually meet and exceed the previous peak, perhaps sooner than some might expect.

“It will happen. It was just the last time it was so grossly subsidized by lending practices that it reached a height that it has taken more than a decade to match,” Kuhn said.

Even with rising mortgage rates, he said prices will likely see a boost in the short term as potential buyers get off the fence to head off further increases.

Median home prices across Southern California are up 6.9 percent year-over-year, but San Diego County is up the most at 11.1 percent.

Distressed sales, made up of foreclosures and short sales, were down, making up 4.2 percent of sales. That’s down 2.6 percent from last year.

Source: latimes.com