San Diego, CA

San Diego

Will living in the comfortable San Diego weather ever go out of style? It doesn’t seem so. In 2024, top luxury real estate sellers fetch an average of $17.7M for their properties, only marginally lower than peak average prices of $20M, seen in 2020 and 2021. After a slow year in 2023, San Diego is on the upswing again. This is a market to watch. Highlights

• Average sales prices were only 10% below their 2020 and 2021 peak

• San Diego properties now sell faster than US and California averages

• Beware: selling slowly translates to generally worse economic outcomes

Prices are up again, and the market is alive

Where other markets in the Southern California regional cluster have struggled in the last years, with valuations down 22% from their 2022 peak, San Diego is faring much better. Valuations peaked in 2020 and 2021 and have since compressed by only about 10%. Now, they appear to be on the rise again. Alongside rising sales prices, we saw a 10-year trend of ever-shortening sales cycles. 

San Diego properties now sell faster than Southern California and US averages by a meaningful margin. Seller beware: while those that manage to sell in under 180 days can hope to fetch 94% of their original listing price, slower sales settle at just 77% of the listing price, on average. For example, the highest grossing transaction in 2024 sold for $35M after originally asking $55M, representing a $20M discount. This property took 844 days to sell. It generally pays to sell quickly, and not get stuck with a stale property.