About the Region

Home sales pick up as more homeowners look to sell. The median home price in San Diego increased 2.8 percent year-over-year and now sits at $1.01 million in Q3, ranking second among the nation’s most populous metros behind San Francisco. However, the number of homes being sold also increased, up 9.4 percent year-over-year. For-sale inventory, the number of unique listings per month, increased 40 percent since the beginning of 2024. The median sale-to-list ratio, which indicates whether a buyer is purchasing a home at a premium or discount, has dropped back to one from a 1.05 premium in 2022. This means that currently the typical selling price of homes is equal to the listing price.

Office space vacancy rates reach a decade high. Office vacancy rates continue to rise, reaching 14.2 percent in Q3—a level not seen since Q1 2014 amid the recovery from the Great Recession. The increasing vacancy rate is driven by the continuation of negative net absorption, which indicates that more space is being vacated than leased. Additionally, new construction has increased supply since the pandemic. Despite increased vacancy, asking prices continue to rise, reaching an all-time high of $3.43 per sq. ft. in Q3. This can be partly attributed to a ‘flight to quality’ with companies moving into spaces with more amenities. Meanwhile, local manufacturers report that manufacturing-ready facilities remain in short supply.

Funding surpasses levels seen in 2023. In just three quarters, San Diego has surpassed the total VC funding brought in during 2023, indicating a resurgence in the startup community after the post-pandemic cooldown. In Q3, startups in the region received more than $1.4 billion in VC funding across 39 deals, totaling $4.1 billion year-to-date. Life Sciences has dominated this year including this quarter, accounting for 81 percent of all funding coming into the region in Q3. Candid Therapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to developing drugs for autoimmune diseases, led the way raising $370 million during their Series A round, which ranks eighth globally and fourth nationally for top VC deals in Q3.