An interesting trend has emerged from the latest economic downturn. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, birth rates are down across the U.S. Last year was the second year in a row that birth rates declined, and experts point to the economic downturn as the reason birth rates reached their lowest points in a century. Locally, births in San Diego County were on the upswing at the start of the new millenium and peaked in 2007 before tappering off.

While it can be debated what the effects of this trend will be for the U.S overall, I personally see this as a negative sign for the real estate market. People purchase new homes for many reasons whether they are relocating for a job or simply tired of renting, but one of the more common reasons individuals purchase a new home is for additional space as their families grow.

Often home …

We are now nearing the end of August and as summer begins to wind down let’s take a minute and examine how the San Diego real estate market held up during the past few months.

According to the latest report by San Diego based MDA Dataquick, home sales in San Diego County were down 19.4 percent in July from the previous year. 

The good news for San Diego was that median home prices continued to climb. The latest numbers showed that May became the 13th consecutive month to record an increase in home prices on the Case-Shiller home price index.

Let’s look a bit closer at the possible reasons behind these numbers:

May gray extended beyond the beaches this year and into home sales. The spring season ended with a bang for the real estate market as the April 30th expiration date for the home buyer tax credits gave the market a …

Mortgage rates continued their historic decline this week. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage dipped ever so slightly, hitting 4.49 percent. The current rate is the lowest on record since Freddie Mac began tracking mortgage rates in 1971. Earlier this week the National Association of Realtors proclaimed homes were almost twice as affordable as they were in 2006. The NAR housing affordability index tracks median home prices compared to median incomes. The latest numbers show the median U.S family earns twice as much as is needed to purchase a home.

Declining mortgage rates are making homeownership even more affordable. With the median home price in San Diego well above $300,000 the .05 percent drop in mortgage rates from last week represents over $5,000 in savings on interest over the life of a 30 year loan. Lower mortgage rates equal lower monthly payments and less overall interest paid on the loan. The …