Oceanside Real Estate Market

The Oceanside real estate market, a relatively high-end residential section of the larger San Diego County real estate housing market, has been facing difficult times following the end of the federal housing market rebate. The median sales price rallied slightly in the month of July, although the number of sales fell dramatically. According to an August 16, 2010 report from the San Diego Union-Tribune, “San Diego County housing sales dropped 21 percent from June as the end to federal rebates took hold, MDA DataQuick reported Monday. Sales were also down 19.4 percent from July 2009, making this the slowest July since 1995. It was the lowest July for new-home sales since DataQuick began tracking the San Diego market in 1988. There were only 210 sales in that category last month, down from 421 in June and 277 in July 2009. However, overall median prices were up by $2,500 from June to $338,000, but not quite above the $340,000 figure in May that was highest in the current cycle. Economists have been saying for months that sales would likely slow because buyers were taking advantage of the $8,000 federal first-time homebuyer tax credit and a slightly smaller amount for repeat buyers. The rebates ended in April and buyers were trying to beat the June 30 deadline to close escrow…But the bulk of rebate-motivated buyers seem to have filed the necessary paperwork in June, naturally leaving fewer people in the pipeline for July -- hence the dropoff in sales. For San Diego, the sales count was 3,070, down 21 percent from June's 3,885 -- the biggest June-July dropoff since 1995.”

The trend observed for Oceanside homes for sale has been generally reflected across the entire Golden State. An August 20, 2010 article from the Los Angeles Times noted that “California home prices remained almost flat in July but sales stalled as federal tax credits for buyers expired. The median price paid for a home last month was $268,000, down less than 1% from June, and up 7.2% from July 2009, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego. The year-over-year increase was the ninth in a row after 27 months of year-over-year declines, the real estate research firm said Thursday. The bottom of the current cycle was $221,000 in April 2009, while the peak median was $484,000 in early 2007. The median price is the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less.”