› News Release

S.D. County housing prices still slipping but pace slows

In the index that measures paired prices paid for the same single-family homes over time, March prices in San Diego County were down 22.04 percent from year-ago levels. That's a slight improvement from the 22.86 percent year-over-year slide in February and from the peak decline of 26.68 percent in October.

...Mark Riedy, executive director of the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego, called the Case-Shiller data “noise” and “static.”

Riedy said monthly housing statistics say less about the future than tight lending policies that make it difficult for many buyers to get a favorable loan; foreclosure rates, which continue at historic highs and dump low-cost properties on the market; and rising unemployment, which deters many would-be buyers from looking for homes.

“Clear signals (of improvement) would be several months of a trend line, which we don't see,” Riedy said. “It's just too early for me to call something close to a bottom, much less, giving credence to a slowdown in declining prices as being at the bottom.”  (Full Story)