• First American Sees 1.7m in Shadow Inventory
• NAR Puts Housing Inventory at 44-Month Low
• NAR Sees Existing Home Sales Rise 10%
• New Home Sales Drop 3.6%, Says HUD
• New Home Sales Up 6.2%, Says HUD

Home sales and prices in San Diego increased from September to October, according to a joint report by local real estate firms The Berkland Group and Fidelity Pacific Real Estate.

The overall average home price in October 2009 is 14% above the average price in March 2009, although prices are down 2% from October 2008.

October sales increased 3% from September, but were still down 6% from October 2008. The number of homes sold has steadily ranged between 2,800 and 3,200 for the past seven months, the report said. In October, 7,848 properties were on the market, and 2,881 sold, including 894 real estate owned (REO) sales and 704 short sales.

Pending sales are on a three-month-long decline, falling 4% in September and an additional 8% in October, although the report notes this could be due to seasonal market adjustments. Homes priced between $500,000 and $600,000 were the only segment to see increased pending activity.

San Diego housing inventory increased in October, but remains below August’s levels. The inventory of homes priced below $500,000 increased, while the number of homes priced above $700,000 decreased. The shift led to a 3% reduction in average listing price for the market. The inventory shift did not affect the housing supply in the area, however, and remains at a 2.4-month supply.

One segment of the market high in popularity now is properties listed below $400,000, the report said. With a scant 1.5-month supply, it’s a seller’s market and many listings are receiving multiple offers. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is a double-digit months supply of homes priced at or above $1m. The high-end market makes up 27% of the region’s inventory, but only 4% of the homes sales.

“In order to get some rational relationship between supply and demand — in the 7-month region — the high end market needs to find an additional 160 buyers per month or reduce inventory by over 1,000 homes for sale,” the report said.

Write to Austin Kilgore.