Real Estate

Santee Sets Pace as Housing Prices Jump in East County

La Mesa, Lemon Grove and Spring Valley also showed growth as more than 2,400 houses were sold in the region last month.

If you're interested in buying or selling your home, these facts from May should tell you a lot – the market is gaining ground fast.

  • The median price of a single-family home in San Diego County was $466,000 in May, up 22.6 percent from a year ago and 3.6 percent higher than April, the San Diego Association of Realtors reported online.
  • More than 2,400 houses were sold last month, up 15.5 percent from April and 10.2 percent from May last year.
  • The number of days a house spent on the market dropped by nearly one-third in the first five months of this year, compared to the same time last year.
In the East County market:  
  • In La Mesa, the median price for the community's two zip codes was $433,125, up slightly from the year-to-date median, and up 21 percent compared to 2012. Almost 90 houses sold in May. 
  • In Lemon Grove, the median price for May was $295,000, above both this year's pace and the May 2012 numbers; 23 homes sold during the month.
  • In Santee, 35 homes sold in May, at a median price of $381,000, a price that is up nearly 27 percent compared to May 2012. 
  • In Spring Valley, 67 homes sold last month. The average median in the community's two zip codes was $343,000, which showed growth both compared to earlier this year and the same period in 2012.

As far as condominiums and townhouses, the median price in the county was $305,500 in May, up 32.8 percent from the same period a year ago and 5.9 percent from April.

In May, more than 1,000 condos or town homes changed hands – a 9.6 percent hike from the same month last year.

– City News Service contributed to this report.


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