Cost of Average New Home Rises $90,000 in Northern S.D. County

Spurred by the rapid increase in the cost of subdivision lots, the average price of a new single-family house in northern San Diego County has increased by nearly $90,000, or 51%, in the last year, to $261,000.

The study by Market Profiles of San Diego compared average subdivision sale prices over the first quarter of 1989 to the same 3 months last year.

In the same period, the average price of a new house in southern San Diego County was $234,800, an increase of $54,000, or 30%, over the same quarter the previous year, according to Market Profiles.

Similar price increases were logged by Meyers Group, a La Jolla-based market research firm that also tracks sales. Meyers reported that countywide, first-quarter median sales price of new homes was $227,990, a 46% increase over the $154,990 median during the same 3 months last year.

A typical, undeveloped, 5,000-square-foot lot in the corridor from Rancho Bernardo south to Tierrasanta now sells for $100,000 to $120,000, up from $60,000 to $70,000 a year ago, said Bill Fontana, a partner in Westana Builders/Developers, a San Diego home builder.

The high prices of new housing show that most new units are geared to the so-called “move-up” market: buyers who are selling smaller and cheaper houses and using the equity they have built up to buy larger and more expensive homes, Market Profiles president Russell Valone said.