SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Are San Diego home listing prices too high? According to a new study, the answer may be yes. Homes are taking longer to sell and oftentimes asking prices are being lowered.
“Buyers are very educated," said Steven Thomas, Chief Economist at Reports for Housing. "They know how much homes are worth so that they know when something’s overpriced.”
The research firm found that 34% of current listings in San Diego County have reduced their asking price.
“These people have come out overzealous, and they didn’t spend enough time with their professional really arriving at price,” said Thomas.
Thomas told CBS 8 that some sellers leave wiggle room for negotiations in their pricing, and he said it can be a recipe for disaster.
“The danger of overpricing is just being unsuccessful," said Thomas. "You’re going to be on the market for a long time. You’re going to be chasing the marketplace down.”
Thomas' research found homes are taking longer to sell, the average increasing to 80 days compared to 57 last year, with some giving up altogether.
As of September, just under 6,990 people had pulled their homes off the market in 2024 compared to 3,478 homes last year.
“There’s a lot of homeowners, sellers that have been languishing on the market and they’re going to be pulling their homes off the market because where are we going to be a month from now? We’re going to be celebrating Thanksgiving and that’s a holiday market, the slowest time of the year,” said Thomas.
One of the prime factors giving potential buyers some pause is interest rates. Right now, the national average for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is in the high 6’s, and earlier this year it climbed over 7%.
“At the end of the day, it’s how much is it going to cost," said Spencer Lugash, President of the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors. "It’s not just a factor of the price of the house, obviously that’s part of it, but what’s that monthly payment going to be?”
Lugash told CBS 8 that sometimes price reductions and sitting too long on the market can raise questions.
“A lot of buyers will see that as a red flag," said Lugash. "They’ll kind of wonder, ‘What’s wrong with the house? Why has it been sitting so long?’”
During this time of year, we typically see home sales slow down a bit across the County. With more inventory on the market than last year, Lugash said it could present an opportunity for buyers.
“It’s a fantastic place to live, and we have no shortage of people who want to move here. Prices are high and that’s going to keep happening," Lugash explained. “As we move into the holidays, and we start seeing a little bit of a price reduction, it’s actually a great time for a motivated buyer to step in and potentially get a deal on a house.”