SD UnionTrib: "Housing appreciation slows to 5.1% in July"

Some more coverage of the DataQuick report on San Diego with some added editorial. Median price up but all other metrics pointing downward.

Check out the graphic at the bottom, sales -15.78% YOY. Hmm wonder what that means...

The year-over-year appreciation rate has dropped 13 months in a row after hitting levels as high as 27.4 percent during the boom of recent years.

San Diego's appreciation rate is lower than in other areas of Southern California, with the overall median for the region of $469,000 up 16.7 percent from last year.

But DataQuick analyst John Karevoll said San Diego appears to be leading the way to the end of a seven-year real estate boom for the entire region as price pressures likely cool.

"It is clear we are closer to the end of the cycle than we were before, and so we're watching it very carefully to see if there's going to be any turn in the market," Karevoll said. "San Diego is clearly the local market that is furthest along."

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