San Diego homeowners are least likely in the nation to sell homes at a loss, said a new study.

Only 1.1 percent of San Diego homeowners sold at a loss in the three months ending in July, a Redfin study said. That compares to a nationwide average of 3 percent.

Out of the 50 largest metro areas, San Francisco homeowners were most likely to sell at a loss — 12.3 percent, followed by Detroit (6.9 percent) and Chicago (6.5 percent).

With prices on the rise again, most people are selling for a profit, with the typical home selling for 78 percent more than what the seller bought it for.

“Even though home prices have fallen from their peak, a majority of home sellers are still reaping significant financial gains,” the study said.

The median capital gain for a San Diego seller was $400,000. That’s the fifth highest behind San Jose ($755,000), San Francisco ($625,500), Anaheim ($470,000) and Oakland ($412,250).

Sellers who sell at a loss in the San Diego metropolitan area, which includes all of San Diego County, typically lose about $66,500.

When something unexpected happens — a death or a divorce for example — that’s when you might see a loss on a sale, San Diego real estate agents said.

Many people do not want to sell at all because they have locked in lower mortgage rates. The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 7.22 percent on Friday morning, said Mortgage News Daily.

Nearly all homeowners — 92.9 percent — have an interest rate below 6 percent, said data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Of that total, 82.4 percent of mortgages are below 5 percent; 62 percent have a rate below 4 percent; and 23.5 percent have a rate below 3 percent.

There were around 3,275 homes for sale in San Diego County in the past four weeks, down from roughly 5,618 at the same time last year.

San Diego homeowners are the least likely to sell at a loss at 1.1 percent, but a few other metros are close behind. Homeowners in Boston, Providence and Kansas City have 1.2 percent of owners selling at a loss.

Source: SDuniontribune by Phillip Molnar