San Diego County buyers were unfazed by rising mortgage rates in March as the median home price hit a new high of $805,000.

Home prices were up 18.7% in a year, said CoreLogic. The new median record — a combination of new and resale condos, townhouses and single-family homes — surpasses the previous peak in February of $775,000.

Prices rose sharply across Southern California in March as analysts said buyers rushed to get into properties before mortgage rates climbed higher. The average rate in March for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was its highest in nearly three years.

The price for a resale single-family home in San Diego County could be nearing $1 million in the coming months. It reached a median of $925,000, up from the previous peak of $875,000 in February.

It’s possible March’s home market might represent the tail end of historic price increases. Some real estate agents are saying homebuyers were still rushing to beat rising rates in most of March, but as rates accelerated at the end of March and into April, there has been a slowdown in buyers’ interest.

The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was recently at 5.35% percent, said Mortgage News Daily. The last time rates were that high was the summer of 2009. The rate is considerably up from December 2020’s average of 2.68 percent, which was the lowest in records going back to 1971.

Even with rising rates, it is may not cause a drop in prices, as there are still more buyers than sellers.

There were 2,612 homes for sale from Feb. 28 to March 27. That is up slightly from the start of the year, but not by much. Around the same time in 2021, there were 3,688 homes for sale; In 2020, 5,939 homes; and in 2019, 7,879 homes.

In addition to single-family homes, resale condos have seen a significant rise in price. The median hit a record high of $640,000, up from February’s peak of $612,250. On an annual basis, condo/townhouse prices are up 28%, outpacing the 21.7% rise of single-family homes.

The newly built median was $741,000, but that figure combines condos, townhouses and single-family homes. A peak of $812,500 was set in October 2018 when there was an influx of luxury single-family homes for sale.

Price gains were up across Southern California in March. Orange County was up the most annually, 22.2%, for a median of $1 million. It was followed by Riverside County, up 21.6% for a median of $580,000; San Diego County with the 18.7% rise; Ventura County, up 17.5% to $775,000; San Bernardino County, up 15.1% to a median of $495,000; and Los Angeles County, up 12% to $840,000.

Source: SDuniontribune by Phillip Molnar