Prices of 1991 S.D. Houses Stagnant for Second Year

Average prices of houses--new and resold--in San Diego County remained virtually unchanged in 1991 from those of 1990, the second straight year of stagnant residential real estate values. Sales volume of existing or resold units fell to a five-year low in 1991.

Despite the decline in fixed-rate mortgages to interest rates currently as low as 8%, market activity was weak as consumers worried about the stagnant economy and bleak employment prospects, said Peter Reeb, a partner with Meyers Group housing market research firm of San Diego.

A Meyers Group survey found that the average price of new houses and new condominiums combined last year was $208,041, up 1.8% from the $205,431 average price of new units sold in the county in 1990.

An average-priced new tract house in the county cost $245,340 last year, up 1% from the $242,870 average in 1990. During 1991’s fourth quarter, however, the average price of a new single-family unit fell to $233,000 from the $243,990 average over the same three months in 1990.

A total of 6,866 new houses and condos were sold countywide in 1991, up 2% from the 6,699 units sold in 1990, Reeb said Friday.

The resale market was similarly sluggish. The average price of resold houses and condos combined was $214,207 in 1991, up slightly from the $213,947 average the previous year, according to the San Diego Board of Realtors.

Resale volume was anemic with sales of 15,832 units reported by San Diego board in 1991, down 16% from the 18,436 units reported sold last year by board members, who account for about 60% of the county’s resale activity.

The San Diego board’s survey includes transactions by Realtors in San Diego, La Mesa, El Cajon, National City and Chula Vista.

In December, the average resale price was $212,863, down slightly from the $213,474 average price in December, 1990.