June was a big surprise in the Carlsbad housing market – if you didn’t see my June market report here it is. The big news was the doubling of sales from May to June despite the pandemic. The late Spring and Summer housing market has surprised us in a number of ways and is far stronger than was predicted. So here’s what happened in July!
209 homes sold in Carlsbad in July, a substantial increase of 11% over June sales, and more sales than we have seen in 1 month in over 2 years! Here’s a summary:
Detached Homes Sold – 127 (up 3%); 26 Average Days on Market; the Average Sales price was $1,169,947 (2% higher); the Average sales price was 98% of the original asking price
Attached Homes (condos, town homes, twin homes) Sold – 82 (up 24%); 39 Average Days on Market; the Average Sales price was $631,216 (no change from last month); the Average sales price was 99% of the original asking price
Overall Carlsbad home sales in July increased from June (which had double the number of sales compared to May), despite the pandemic. The average sales price rose slightly for detached single family homes but did not change for attached properties.
Looking back to July 2019, detached home sales increased by 25%, and we saw 41% more attached home sales. In the same vein, the average sales price year over year for detached homes was 11% higher, and 6% higher for attached homes.
16% of the July transactions were for cash.
The average marketing time (Days on Market or DOM) for July was about the same for detached homes as last month, at 26 days, and for attached homes. Almost half (44%) of the homes went pending in 1 week or less – clearly many buyers saw homes promptly after hitting the market, decided quickly, and made offers.
On average Carlsbad buyers negotiated the purchase of their homes for 1 – 2% off the original asking price. However, almost half of the home buyers (45%) paid asking price or better for their homes, a good indication of the competition happening in the market, even during the pandemic.
The median sales price for detached homes was $1,090,000, up 1% from last month, and $616,500 for attached homes, up 8%.
There were 8 homes in Carlsbad at the end of July with a Contingent status, versus 12 last month. Contingent homes are technically still available (in some cases they are short sales or REOs) but some of these listings may not allow more showings or accept back-up offers. All are first right of refusals, like last month.
There were 217 Carlsbad homes for sale at the end of July, ranging in price from $314,900 to $11,995,000, which is an 18% decrease from last month. June inventory was also a decrease that had followed several months of inventory increases.
The current inventory is only 1.8 months for attached homes, and only 1.1 months for detached, based on the rate of sales over the last 3 months. Carlsbad continues to be a very strong sellers’ market based on current inventory and buyer demand, even during the pandemic, and became even more competitive in July.
In July 215 new listings came on the market, about the same as last month (216), which had been a large increase from May. 186 homes went pending, excluding homes that closed in July, a modest decrease of 6% from June, but still a significant number of pendings for the month averaging 7 per day.
This overview of the Carlsbad real estate market is based on information in the MLS. I’m happy to provide more market details about current activity, including specific neighborhoods of Carlsbad such as La Costa, Aviara and Bressi Ranch that may be of interest to you.
Please reach out to me at (760) 840-1360 so we can discuss your housing needs, timing, lifestyle and budget, and any questions that you have, and perhaps some you don’t know you have. Then we can plan a strategy to get you into a new Carlsbad home in 2020, and/or help you sell your current Carlsbad home.
NOTE: Be aware there are specific recommendations in place to help keep everyone safe during the pandemic, and some new procedures that impact the purchase and sales process in our area. I am happy to share that information with you and answer questions about what this means for buyers and sellers during the pandemic, and what you can expect.