Housing market may show signs of cooling

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A new report from Zillow says many homes in San Diego County are selling in just under a week, but experts say the housing market is showing a few signs of cooling.

San Diego loan officer Mark Goldman says low supply and high demand are continuing to push home prices up in our region. That’s despite interest rates jumping in the last year to about 5 percent for a 30-year-fixed loan.

“I think people who have been waiting for values to go down are quite disappointed, which is what I’ve been saying for the last couple of years,” said Goldman, of C-2 Financial Corp. “Is it possible values go down? Yes it is. Is it likely? Not in my opinion.”

Zillow would agree. The organization says the typical monthly payment on a San Diego home rose $1,500 dollars in the last year, but values still rose 28 percent.

Even with all of that, experts say the market could soon start to cool off.

“We are anticipating seeing a kind of turning point within the next month or two in terms of home-price appreciation slowing down, but that does not mean home prices are going to get cheaper. It just means they aren’t going to get as expensive as fast,” said Zillow economist Nicole Bachaud.

She forecast by next year home price appreciation should slow to about 10 or 11 percent and that supply should increase.

But Goldman cautioned it could be costly to try to time the market — for instance, even if interest rates drop, he calculated price increases would more than wash out any potential interest savings.

“If you’re feeling comfortable in your job, if you think your income is fairly stable, if you think you’re going to be in your neighborhood for 5-10 years or so, I think the odds are much better to buy now than to wait,” he said.

But in this market, that’s easier said than done.

CoreLogic says the median home in the county sold for $840,250 in April. That’s up 20 percent from a year earlier.