They say numbers don’t lie; and if you are a homeowner in San Diego, CA, then the numbers have truly been good to you in the recent past. As things stand, the market trends in the San Diego housing sector show an increase of about 8% or $40,000 in median home sales within the last one year. 

The very same numbers also show that the average price per square foot went from $385 to an impressive $416 within the same period. 

What do these Numbers Mean to Homebuyers in San Diego, CA?

Well, unfortunately, these numbers mean that houses are finally going for the lucrative rates that most investors hope to get when they decide to get into the home flipping business. As of last year, the median home price in the region reached an impressive $529,000 which is way above the $500,000 that was experienced back in 2005 before the market came crashing down. This means a few things for homebuyers in San Diego: 

• Housing Inventory is Down in San Diego: Simple economics tells us that prices tend to go up when the demand is a higher than the supply. This is the case, not only in California, but for most of the country as well. In San Diego specifically, the number of listings dropped to about 5,000 homes when compared to an average of 7,000 homes from 2014. 
• Home sales are up: Despite the fact that the recent recession pumped the brakes a little on new home constructions, meaning that the sector did not keep up with population growth, the number of homes sold did not vary that much from previous years. Which means you could always buy and sell a home in San Diego if you so wished. 
• The homes sell very fast: According to the ‘Greater San Diego Association of Realtors’ , homes spent an average of 31 days on the market last year. This is the fastest homes in the region have sold on average since 2006. The reduced number of homes on the market meant that the competition for the available once greatly increased. 

All this is perfect news for home sellers and a home buyers alike. For the home seller, it means that you get to enjoy premium prices and a shorter sale period, while for the homebuyer in San Diego, it means that you do not have to sift through a myriad of houses before finding the one you like. 

What you can expect as a First Time Home Buyer in San Diego, CA

While the above facts do give you a slight insight on what the housing market is like in San Diego, you should know that buying a home here is really like buying a home in most other places with the slight exception that the market is currently on a lucrative upturn. That being said, here are a few things you can expect as a first time homebuyer in San Diego, CA. 

You Will Need Financing:

Of course, if you have slightly more than half a million dollars lying around somewhere then you do not need this bit. But if you are like 99% of the population in this country, there is a good chance that you will need some form of financing to buy a home. 

The best way to get financing in San Diego is to ensure that you have an excellent home buyers credit score . Even though the standards are a little higher in terms of the score needed and how it directly affects the cost of your loan, the upside is that with an excellent score, you can pretty much buy any house you want. 

You Will Need the Right Documents:

As a homebuyer in San Diego, and really any other part of the country, you will need to have proof of income and taxes. If you are going to be applying for a mortgage, most Mortgage Lenders will ask for the following: 

• Two recent pay stubs
• Tax returns
• W-2s from the two immediate previous years 
• Bank statements from the previous two months (you will have to present every page of these statements including the blank ones)

Once you have all the papers in order, the normal procedures follow with you viewing the house, making an offer, depositing the down payment and paying it off slowly depending on your Mortgage agreement. 

There are Homebuyer Programs that can help:

If you are fully intent on buying a home in San Diego but find that the financing process is a bit more frustrating that you like, then there are several ways through which you can make your life a little easier on that front. There are programs that include: 

• First Time Home Buyer Programs (FTHB) 
• CRA (Community Reinvestment Act). 
• DAP’s (Down Payment Assistance) 

These are just some of the avenues through which you can get funding or go through to make your home purchase possible in California.

Owning your own home is a dream come true for most families in the country and in the world in general. Owning a home in California has the added advantage of being in a region with such beautiful weather. Now you know how to go about it.