Welcome to another edition of the REALTOR® Report! Happy Super Wednesday! Ok, I may have made that up, but yesterday was Super Tuesday, so let’s run with that. Besides, the numbers for this month’s report are an improvement from last month, making today a super day anyway.
The housing market in Southwest Riverside County continues to be competitive, with limited inventory and rising prices. Homes were on the market for over a week less (median) than last year, demonstrating continued demand in our region.
Not to sound like a broken record, but interest rates continue to play a significant role in sales activity. Rates are in a holding pattern in the 6.75% range, and most economists I speak to expect the holding pattern to continue with a slight decrease throughout 2024. However, that decrease is anticipated to be down to around 6.3%, not into the 5% or even 4% range people have hoped for. Given that information, I will continue to remind folks that waiting to purchase or sell a home until rates drop may take longer than expected. The best time to purchase a home is when you are comfortable with the payment and house you are buying. Playing the rate game or the price game could quickly end up costing you more in the long run.
I started the report promising some good news and am a man of my word. While still far from 2021 and 2022 numbers, unit sales and median prices are up, and inventory remains relatively flat. Jordan G. Levine, Senior Vice President & Chief Economist for the California Association of REALTORS®, reported last month that the worst is behind us, but the recovery process will be a slow one. Sales and inventory should slowly improve this year, and we shouldn’t see any foreclosure crisis. I am sharing his 2024 California Housing Market Outlook data at the end of my report for your review.
Let’s take a closer look at the numbers for our region from February 2024.
The median home price in Southwest Riverside County improved by 2% compared to the previous month ($593,284/$580,000) and improved by 7% from one year ago ($555,000). Comparing the median price to where it was 2 years ago, it has increased by 1.5% when the median price was $584,250. Unsold inventory decreased to 4 months, still a ways off from the 6 months that is considered a healthy market. The median time on the market decreased by just over a week to 21 days, down from 41 days last year but up considerably from 2 years ago when it was just 9 days. Unit sales increased 21% from last month and are almost the same as the previous year’s. Unsold inventory saw a slight decrease of 1% compared to the previous month, and it remains down from last year, with a decrease of 4%. Median prices were up in all but one city covered in my report, ranging from -1.1% to 16.3%.
On the legislative side, we have passed the bill introduction deadline and are slowly processing the 2,258 bills that were introduced. We are already identifying some bills that are bad for real estate (no surprise here) and know we will play a lot of defense again this year. We have also identified some ballot propositions that will most likely be on the November ballot that will have a negative impact, so we are watching their progress as well. As I mentioned last month, we should be safe from anything too controversial and major tax increases due to the election year.
Speaking of elections, while the voting for the Primary Election has ended, there is still time for additional ballots to be processed and counted before the results are certified on April 12. Congratulations to the candidates who will be moving on to the General Election in November.
As I do in every election year, I will publish the candidates who have earned the support of the REALTORS® much closer to the November election. We will be meeting with and interviewing many candidates before making any final recommendations.
Last month, SRCAR hosted its Annual Breakfast with the City Managers featuring presentations from Canyon Lake, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Murrieta, Temecula, and Wildomar. I want to thank each City Manager for taking the time to present to us and always sharing the good things happening in our local cities. There is a lot of exciting economic growth, and housing construction starts happening soon, which is always good for our local economy. While California definitely has its challenges, we sure are blessed to live and work where we do.
I would also like to welcome SRCAR’s new CEO, George D. Peppas, III, who officially started last month. Don’t worry if you haven’t met him yet; I’m sure you will be seeing him around at future events.
I hope I have covered everything that affects you and your business. Please let me know if I left anything out or if you need anything explained further.
If you’d like a copy of my entire report including the detailed 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…
Adam A. Ruiz
Government Affairs Director
Southwest Riverside County Association of REALTORs®
