As I ran the numbers for this month’s report, all I could think was WOW; March was a busy month! You’ll see the details on the following slides, but I will highlight that the transaction value of sales in our region increased by over $220 million from the previous month! That’s the largest increase since I took over this report just over a year ago.
The median home price in Southwest Riverside County had a slight increase of 2% from a month ago ($593,378/$584,200), was up 19% from a year ago ($500,000), and up an impressive 46.5% from 2 years ago ($405,000). Unsold inventory is still hovering just over 2 months (6 months is considered a healthy market), and days on market decreased from last month to 8 days, up from 5 days last year but still significantly lower compared to 20 days 2 years ago. Unit sales are up a remarkable 36% from the previous month and 3% from last year. Inventory saw a minor increase of 2% from last month and is up an incredible 49% from last year. Median prices are up in all of our local cities, ranging in an increase of 12.7%-29.2% Year-Over-Year.
Next month’s numbers may paint a different picture. Over the past few weeks, there have been drastic changes in interest rates, specifically a sharp increase in 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. In March, the Federal Reserve increased the Fed Rate for the first time in the past few years by 0.25%. This rate is different from the mortgage rate consumers pay, which has jumped to over 5%. The market is anticipating multiple rate increases throughout the year (possibly 7-10) and has priced mortgage rates in anticipation of those increases to help control inflation. So while this is a significant change now, it’s unlikely that we will see these changes again in the next 12 months. The rate increase has a significant impact on affordability and will surely slim out the buyer’s pool as those buyers either have to consider a smaller purchase or find themselves unable to purchase here altogether.
On the Legislative Front, there is a housing bill that has been drawing a lot of media attention. AB 1771 (Ward) would result in homeowners who, at the time they sell their property, are not owner occupying the property and do not qualify for the homeowner’s exemption to pay up to a 25% tax on the gain from the sale of a home in the first three years of homeownership. A lower but significant amount of tax would also be owed until year 7. We are strongly OPPOSED to this bill and have been fighting against it while working with a large coalition of real estate and lending interest groups who also oppose this bill.
I knew 2022 would be busy, and we’re only getting started. If you’d like a copy of my entire report including the mentioned slides, or to be added to the distribution list, please email me at Adam@srcar.org.
As always, I am available if you have any questions about the report. Until next month…