The last time I posted commentary on the San Diego Real Estate Market and how it can and should effect your divorce financial planning I mentioned an estimated figure of 25% as an average discount from listing price to sales price as one of my major concerns. The next day I received an e-mail from Prudential California Realty including their recent economic analysis confirming my estimates. The table below details the average list versus sale price for all home sales closed in the $1,000,000 plus price range in San Diego County over the last two years. The figure confirms my suspicion that a 20 to 25% disconnect exists between sellers and buyers. All of the realtors I speak to say they are aware of this and suggest being aggressive on pricing. Universally they say the homes that are priced right sell quickly and often above the listing price.

So what about the time line for sales in our current market? Again thanks to Prudential we have some current inventory information. The current inventory can give you some idea of the time it might take to sell  a home in the current environment. From $1,000,000 to $1,999,999 there is an 11 month inventory of homes currently listed for sale. That means that realtors would expect it to take 11 months for all current inventory to be sold. In the $2,000,000 to $2,999,999 price range there is currently 34 months of inventory.

It is a generally accepted belief in the real estate industry that a market with more than 12 months inventory is stagnant at best. Stagnant is not a good term in the real estate business. It means prices have to come down in order to equalize supply and demand. We have too much supply and very little demand. Knock 20% discount from a $2,500,000 listing price to an estimated $2,000,000 sale price and maybe the markets free up.

Give us a call if you are faced with making a decision about what to do with the family home now that you are divorcing. It may be the biggest financial decision you make during the divorce proceedings.

 

Justin A. Reckers can be reached at:

Telephone: 858-509-2329