San Diego County home prices were up 1.1 percent in November after two months of declines, real estate tracker CoreLogic reported.

The median price was $565,000 — still down $18,000 from the all-time peak reached in August — showing the market is somewhat weathering increasing mortgage interest rates and lower sales.

There were 2,936 sales, down from the same time the last two years and representing six months in a row of declining sales. It was not just a local phenomenon, with fewer sales across the nation that many analysts attributed to rising mortgage interest rates.

Higher interest rates, an overall tempering of enthusiasm for the economy, and wages not rising much, will all likely contribute to a slowed real estate market in 2019.

The mortgage rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan was 4.86 percent at the end of November, said Mortgage News Daily, up from 4 percent at the same time last year. That means the monthly cost for a median-priced home (assuming 20 percent down) went up around $230 in a year.

National wages were up more than 3 percent in a year as of November, said the Bureau of Labor Statistics. When adjusted for inflation, wages had increased less than 1 percent, CNBC reported.

Some potential buyers have said they are waiting until next year for a big Great Recession-style drop in home prices. However, most economic forecasts still predict home prices going up for the next year — just at a slower pace than previous years.

All home types were down from peaks reached this summer:

Resale single-family homes: Median of $605,000, down from $630,000 in June and July. There were 1,760 sales, it’s lowest for November in two years.

Resale condos: Median of $400,000, down from peak of $432,000 in July. There were 797 sales, it’s lowest in three years.
Newly built homes: Median of $751,750, down from peak of $812,500 in October. There were 349 sales, its highest since November 2009.

There were 7,445 homes for sale in November, up from 4,858 at the same time in 2017; 5,960 in 2016; and 6,505 in 2015.
Absentee buyers, typically investors who don’t intend on living in the home as a primary residence, made up 18 percent of sales in November. That’s down from 20.7 percent at the same time last year.

In ZIP codes with at least 10 sales, Point Loma (92106) had the biggest annual price increase for resale single-family homes, 34.2 percent, with a median of $1.3 million. It was followed by Bonsall (92003), which was up 30.2 percent for a median of $719,500, and Carlsbad (92009) up 19.7 percent for a median of $1.1 million.

Source: SDuniontribune by Phillip Molnar