The Mission Beach real estate market, a small section of the larger San Diego County real estate market, saw disappointing home sale statistics for both yearly composite and some monthly measures in December 2010. Interestingly, according to one tracking service, provided by the San Diego Association of Realtors, sales of both detached and attached homes saw a significant increase over December 2009. Detached homes saw a sales spike of just under twenty-seven percent compared to year-ago levels, while attached homes rallied by twelve and a half percent. A seasonal increase is generally considered normal between November and December. However, this uptick was not sufficient to bring the area’s annual figures into positive territory. For the entire year, the San Diego area saw a decrease of more than seven percent for attached homes and a decline of nearly five and a half percent for attached homes. Significantly, the annual median sales price increased compared to last year, reaching $330,000 in 2010 – a rally of about eight percent from 2009. Detached homes specifically saw average sales prices rise by almost eight and a half percent, to $385,000, while attached homes saw a less pronounced rally at less than seven and a half percent ($220,000). Additionally, homes spent about eight percent more time on the real estate market in 2010 relative to 2009, with detached homes taking about ten fewer days to sell than attached homes.

The number of Mission Beach real estate closings and pending San Diego County home sales decreased in December 2010, bucking a nationwide trend to the contrary. According to the national Pending Homes Sales Index, the number of pending home sales in the United States as a whole saw an increase in the most recent tracking period, while the number of pending sales in San Diego County saw a decrease. In December 2010, there were a total of 4,471 pending sales in the county, compared to 4,652 a month earlier. One local real estate expert attributed the lag to the more expensive product mix of properties in San Diego, which tends to have a median sales price well above many other parts of the state and country.