San Diego County’s median home price fell for a third month in August, down 6 percent from its peak in the spring.

The median was $799,000, according to said CoreLogic/DQNew. It reached an all-time high of $850,000 in May, but the market in San Diego and the rest of the nation has slowed as mortgage rates continue to rise. The median combines all single-family, condo and townhouse sales.

San Diego’s housing market hasn’t experienced anything like a collapse yet: Prices are still up 10.2 percent annually and it remains one of Southern California’s fastest appreciating markets. However, the time that homes remain on the market has increased to its highest point of the year as competition slows.

Buyers are now taking their time and there is not the same urgency.

Higher interest rates have cut into buyers’ purchase power, making homes sit longer and leading to price reductions. In August, 49.7 percent of San Diego County homes on the market had some sort of price reduction from their original listed price. Out of the 90 biggest metros, San Diego had the 13th most price reductions. Denver had the most, at 62.2 percent.

Rising mortgage rates meant the typical mortgage payment in San Diego is $4,089 a month — was up 52.9 percent in a year.

Home buyers continue to balk in the face of mortgage affordability obstacles this August, leaving less competition and more inventory of homes for sale in the market.

Here’s how the San Diego County price changed by home type in August:

• Resale single-family home: Median of $875,000, with 1,827 sales. It is down from a peak of $950,000 in April.
  
• Resale condo: Median of $630,000, with 923 sales. Down from the peak of $663,000 in May.
  
• Newly built: Median of $885,250, with 365 sales. This figure combines single-family homes, townhouses and condos.
  

The median days on market for a San Diego County home was 23.5 days in August, the highest since February 2020. In March, it was taking a median of eight days to sell.

Southern California has still seen prices rise 8.8 percent in a year. Riverside County has grown the most, up 10.8 percent in a year for a median — the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less— of $581,500.

It was followed by San Diego County, up 10.2 percent; Orange County, up 9.3 percent for a median of $984,000; San Bernardino County, up 7.5 percent for a median of $500,000; Ventura County, up 5.6 percent for a median of $782,250; and Los Angeles County, up 4.5 percent for a median of $820,000.

Source: SDuniontribune by Phillip Molnar