Carlsbad Market Report for December 2018

The housing market in Carlsbad saw a decline in sale in December 2018, with 87 Carlsbad homes sold, a drop by 19% from November!  Here are the details on Carlsbad home sales:

56 detached homes sold (down 19%) sold. The average sales price was $1,056,227 (down 6%), with homes selling for an average of 95% of the asking price. These homes were on the market an average of 45 days.

31 attached homes (condos, town homes, twin homes) sold, a decline by 21%. The average sales price was $641,583 (up 13%), and homes sold on average for 98% of asking price. Time on market averaged 39 days.

Carlsbad home sales in December decreased significantly from November, for both detached and attached homes, not a big surprise given the holiday season. Average sales prices decreased modestly for detached single family homes but increased for attached homes.

Compared to December 2017, detached home sales were down by 31%, and were down by 31% for attached homes. In contrast average prices rose by 3% for detached homes from the same time period in 2017, and increased by 4% for attached homes compared to 2017.

23% of the Carlsbad home buyers in December paid cash (versus 18% last month).

Buyers, on average, were able to negotiate 2 – 4% off the asking price; while at the same time 20% of buyers paid asking price or better for their homes no doubt due to competition.

The median sales price for detached homes was $1,018,500 (down 3%), and $590,000 for attached, which was up 13% from November.

There were 3 homes in a contingent status – these are homes with a “first right of refusal” due to contingent offers. Seeing contingent offers being accepted by seller is another shift in the market, something we did not see in the early part of this year.

Inventory also shifted in December, not a surprise given the holidays. There were 250 Carlsbad homes for sale at the end of December, a substantial decrease, by 33% from November. However, this is still substantially more inventory that we saw at the end of December in 2017.

The real estate market in Carlsbad remains a very strong sellers’ market based on current inventory and buyer demand, with 2.3 months of inventory for attached homes and 2.1 months for detached based on the current rate of sales over the last 3 months. .

In December 91 new listings came on the market, down 40% from last month, and not surprising given the holidays. However it was more new listings than we saw in December 2017. The number of homes going pending in December (excluding those homes that closed), 88, did not change from November.

This overview of the Carlsbad real estate market is based on information provided by the MLS. I’m happy to provide more details with regard to current activity as well as within neighborhoods of Carlsbad that interest you.

Please contact me at (760) 840-1360 so we can discuss your housing needs and budget, and any questions you have so we can create a strategy to get you into a new Carlsbad home in 2019.