Home prices in San Diego are on the rise. In May, San Diego home prices rose 7% from this time last year. According to zillow.com, it is the second highest year-over-year increase in the country. In this same period, home prices nationwide dropped 3.8%.
Zillow creates their home-value index by looking at pending sales on homes, homes that have already sold, and also homes that are not on the market at all to determine the median price. San Diego County’s median home price was $375,400. That’s a 1% increase from the month prior, though that’s still 30.1% below the peak median price in October 2005 where the median was $538,200.
Zillow releases a monthly report on home price statistics. Here is a rundown on current numbers:
In pricing increases, San Diego County ranks only second to Virginia Beach, VA—a metro area. 
But what happens when we compare San Diego to other metro areas in the California area?
San Diego ranks first.
Following San Diego in home price increases are:
- San Francisco – 5.9%
- Los Angeles – 5.3%
- San Jose & Santa Barbara – both had 4.7%
Of the Top 10 markets, 6 of those areas are in California, and in terms of home prices, San Diego has the 9th highest median home price.
The cities with the top gains from a year prior were:
- Del Mar – 13.3%
- Poway – 12.4%
- San Diego – 11.6%
So how does Zillow’s report compare with others?
Last month, MDA DataQuick reported May’s median price as $340,000—a 15.3% increase from last year, and a 4.5% gain from April. Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller Home Price Index showed San Diego’s home prices rose 11.7% from the year prior, but that report was for April rather than May.
While these numbers come as a breath of fresh air in a stinking economy, we aren’t quite out yet. With the federal housing credits expired, the summer is anticipated to yield some bumpy housing results across the board. High unemployment is another factor affecting the housing market, because realistically, no one is going to buy a house if they are out of work.
Zillow also reported that about 28% of all transactions in San Diego this past May were foreclosure resales. Nationally, foreclosure sales were 19%. Additionally, 34.2% of all non-foreclosure homes sold in the same month were sold at a loss.
