San Diego Home Prices Hold Firm Even as Sales Volume Cools
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The California Association of Realtors released its September housing data Monday, and San Diego County's figures present a frustrating paradox for buyers: sales volume dropped from August levels — consistent with a statewide pattern of buyers sidelined by still-elevated mortgage rates — yet median prices have remained stubbornly high. The C.A.R. report covers existing single-family homes only, excluding condos and townhomes, and the county figures are not seasonally adjusted.
The dynamic reflects the leverage that low for-sale inventory continues to hand sellers. In a supply-constrained market, sellers who are not compelled to move can simply wait rather than cut prices, and San Diego's inventory has been historically thin for several years. For first-time buyers, the affordability gap between qualifying income requirements and typical household earnings in the region has not meaningfully closed.
On the legal front, Bridgford Law filed a civil complaint Monday on behalf of a San Juan Capistrano resident who was evacuated during the Norte Fire in Orange County, alleging SDG&E equipment caused the blaze. The complaint cites an outage on Circuit 197 recorded at 11:31 a.m. — two minutes before the fire's reported start time — as supporting evidence. That timing is an allegation in a civil filing, not an official determination of ignition cause. SDG&E responded Monday that the outage cause remained under investigation and that no established connection between its facilities and the fire's ignition had been determined.
The financial stakes extend to San Diego ratepayers: SDG&E is a regulated utility whose rates are subject to California Public Utilities Commission review, and any finding of liability for major fire damages raises the question of how those costs are ultimately distributed between shareholders and customers — a pattern already observed in litigation involving PG&E and northern California wildfires. The legal process is at an early stage.