Three months ago, a two-bedroom condo in North Park would hit the MLS and have five offers by Sunday. That's not happening anymore.
I pulled comps last week along University Avenue, and the difference from January is real. Listings that would have gone pending in four days are sitting for two, sometimes three weeks. Price reductions are showing up in places I haven't seen them in over a year. According to what I've tracked on the MLS this spring, active inventory in the city of San Diego is up roughly 30% compared to the same time last year.
So what does that actually mean for you if you're trying to buy your first place?
It means you have room to breathe. That's it. That's the big shift. You're not walking into an open house on Saturday knowing that if you don't write an offer by 5 PM, someone else will lock it up. You can sleep on it. You can ask for a second showing. You can negotiate.
I want to be clear, though. This isn't a buyer's market. Prices haven't dropped in any meaningful way. A one-bedroom in Hillcrest that was $520K six months ago is still listed around $510K, maybe $505K if the seller's motivated. That's not a discount. That's a rounding error.
What has changed is leverage. Sellers are more willing to cover closing costs. I've gotten concessions on two deals this quarter that would've been laughed off in 2024. One seller in Mission Valley threw in $8,000 toward my buyer's rate buydown without a counter. That wasn't happening last spring.
Here's my honest take: this window won't last through summer. Every year, San Diego inventory tightens once we hit July. Seasonal buyers flood in, military PCS orders pick up, and the breathing room disappears. If you've been pre-approved and you're waiting for some perfect signal that it's "time," this is probably as close as you'll get for a while.
You don't need prices to crash. You need enough leverage to negotiate a deal that makes sense for your monthly payment. Right now, in May 2025, that leverage exists in a way it didn't six months ago.
So the real question is whether you'll use it or keep refreshing Zillow until it's gone.