SLO County’s home values are soaring. Here’s the median price in your town
San Luis Obispo County’s housing market entered 2021 coming off a coronavirus pandemic-related price boom — and the homebuying frenzy hasn’t shown signs of easing.
December data show all but five county communities saw year-over-year home price increases at the end of 2020, a CoreLogic Home Sale report said. The same trend was apparent in counties throughout the Central Coast and Southern California regions, as well as the state as a whole.
Overall, the county recorded a median home price of $675,000 December 2020, up 8.9% from $620,000 in 2019.
The city of San Luis Obispo reached a median of $847,000, up 13.1% from $749,000 a year earlier.
Home prices in California and the county reached new highs over the summer amid the pandemic, fueled by low interest rates and increasing numbers of people working remotely, according to previous Tribune stories and a January 2021 home prices report from the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
For seven straight months starting in July, total monthly home sales statewide have exceeded year-earlier figures, and by substantial amounts, according the state report. January marked the fifth straight month that California home sales were at least 15 percent higher than five-year averages for the month.
Amid the enthusiastic buying, in August, the state’s median price topped $700,000 for the first time, and San Luis Obispo County’s median hit a new high of $666,840, according to previous Tribune and Sacramento Bee stories.
Prices continued to remain high during the first month of 2021, California Association of Realtors (CAR) data showed.
In January, California saw a median home price of $699,890 in January — up 21.7% from 2020, when the median was $575,160 during the same month, CAR’s Current Sales and Price Statistics report said.
“January 2021 data show torrid home price growth in both California and the rest of the country over the past year: The typical home in California has appreciated 10.5 percent since January 2020, somewhat above the national figure of 9.1 percent,” the Legislative Analyst’s Office report said. “This represents the highest 12-month growth rate in the state since 2014, and in the nation since 2006.”
December 2020 home prices up year-over-year throughout California
Most California counties’ median home prices were up by double digits in December, outpacing SLO County’s 8.9% increase.
On the Central Coast, both Monterey and Santa Barbara counties saw 19% median price increases.
Monterey County had a December median price of $689,000, compared to $577,000 in 2019. The median price in the city of Monterey was up nearly 39%, from $711,000 in December 2019 to $987,500 in 2020.
Santa Barbara County’s median price rose from $575,000 in 2019 to $685,000 in 2020.
In the Central Valley, median prices were up from about 5% to 13%. Fresno County’s December median was up 13%, from $287,250 to $325,000.
Kings County’s median was up 5.6%, and Merced County’s was up 14.7%. Merced’s December median increased from $279,000 in 2019 to $320,000 in 2020.
Butte County — home to the city of Chico in Northern California — saw the biggest year-over-year increase in the state, with the county’s median price increasing 37% to $339,750 from $248,000 in 2019.
Siskiyou County, located on the state’s northern border, was the only county listed to see a year-over-year price drop in December. Home prices dipped 5.1% from $200,000 in 2019 to $189,750 in 2020.
SLO County median home prices by community
Although year-over-year median home prices were up throughout San Luis Obispo County, the biggest increases were likely skewed by very low sales numbers.
Avila Beach had the biggest median price increase in the county with 127.3%, but that was based on only three sales. The December median went from $825,000 in 2019 to $1,875,000 in 2020, meaning the homes that sold were on the high end.
Paso Robles’ median price grew 17.7% in December, from $485,000 to $570,750, while Cambria’s median decreased by 11.3%, from $714,000 in 2019 to $634,000 in 2020.
Here’s how the rest of the county’s communities stack up:
This story was originally published February 26, 2021 at 10:00 AM.
