SB County’s New Vacation Rental Regulations
Greetings Real Estate Fans,
Happy New Year to you and your family. New year, same story. In the last two weeks, rates have shot up back above 7%. Not only that but the economic news has been poor in the first few weeks of our new year. Many indicators are showing that rates may stay at this level for several months. Time will tell.
I will be sending another email in the next few days addressing my forecast for this year.
In this Update we can see the December numbers along with the year-end numbers for our local market. To be clear, 2024 was bad. Really bad. I have been generating these reports since 2013. During this time, we have never seen a year with sales this low. We closed escrow on just 917 homes. Compare this to 2,066 in 2021 or even 1,696 in 2022. Add on top that we have a record number of listings this year. At one point we had over 800 properties listed in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for our area. This is confusing for buyers who have too much to pick from. Add to this the whole insurance issue in California and you just have poor conditions for a healthy real estate market.
Highlights of this Update include-
- As is expected, inventory dropped below 700 at the end of the year. This is typical as many sellers’ listings expire at the end of the year. Many are now on the sideline waiting to see if they should relist. Most will change Realtors in an effort to look new on the MLS.
- Only 78 homes closed escrow in December. As mentioned above, total sales for the year were at 917.
- 70% of closed escrows in December were below $400,000. This has been the trend in the last year.
- As expected, days on market grew in all local markets.
- All three larger markets in our area dropped in average price compared to 2023 along with price per square foot. 74% of sales were below $400,000!
- As far as vacant land, we closed just 27 properties in December bringing our annual sales for 2024 to 382. Keep in mind we have almost 1,200 active vacant land listings in our area.
I will be emailing my forecast for this year next week.
Stay warm and enjoy your January!
Sincerely,
Bob Armstrong
(760) 221-2999
DRE #01275801
GREEN Real Estate Group
Bob Armstrong
