San Diego Real Estate Reality Check

There is a still more greed in this market than there is fear. From the people that I talk to, it is an almost uncontrollable desire to rebuild their retirement/savings accounts that were based in the San Diego housing and equity markets. They do not realize that both the real estate and stock markets can go down for long periods at a time.

They have been brainwashed by the talking heads to be long term investors and to not worry about the short term hiccups that occur in the marketplace. This theory may have had some validity in past markets, but it is always far more prudent to set stop-loss points on any investment, than to suffer losses in the 40% range seen in the San Diego residential housing market and many stock portfolios in the current down-turn.

Certainly, the San Diego housing market has a good probability (based on the currently proposed incentives in the 2009 stimulus plan) of bottoming out this year.  That does not mean that housing appreciation will come back any time soon. Yet, many people hope to recoup their real estate equity looses within a year or two of the bottom.  To me, this is like the mom who gave birth to the eight babies stating she believed she could pay for their upbringing on her own, once she finished her schooling.                                                   San Diego real estate agents