San Diego Home Values Jump
San Diego Home Values
The median price for new and existing houses and condos reached $295,000 in May, up 5.4 percent from $280,000 the same period last year. This marked the second straight month that the price increased from a year earlier, following 13 straight year-on-year declines. It was also the highest median price since $295,500 in September 2010.
The number of Southern California homes sold in May for less than $200,000 rose 7 percent from a year earlier, while the number that sold for $200,000 to $400,000 increased 18.9 percent. Sales between $300,000 and $800,000 jumped 23.1 percent, and sales over $800,000 rose 11.8 percent. Read more 
San Diego California Home Prices … Worst is Over
San Diego – Strongest Hosing Market in the Nation
San Diego home prices are on the rise, but, does this mean that the worst is over for the San Diego real estate market? Personally, I believe the governement tax credits( which may be mostly speeding up sales that would have occurred normally) and the fact that there is a huge number of loans due to have their first adjustment this year, could cause a double dip in San Diego housing values.
Year-over-year, the index for San Diego was up 7.6 percent.
San Diego was one of the first metropolitan areas where house prices started to tumble, and now is the only metropolitan area in the nation to show increased home prices between January and February.
Nationally, the S&P index was down .9 percent between January and February, but up .6 percent from the same period last year. Read more
San Diego Real Estate Owning vs. Renting – A Real World Look
The conventional wisdom used to be: Buying a home and living in it is not an investment, but it sure beats renting and dumping money month after month with no return of any sort. Purchased property pays for itself by saving money that you don’t have to pay for rent. In 20-30 years time you own that home whereas you still need to pay rent if you are renting it. Read more
San Diego Real Estate Sales Uptick
San Diego home sales
In a report issued by MDA DataQuick, July San Diego home sales were up by 11% from the same period a year ago. This should come as no surprise as many first-time buyers have been enticed by an $8,000 federal tax credit, interest rates around 5% and a California new-home buyer’s credit. The San Diego median home price was$320,000, up from $280,000 in January.
The best summation of the San Diego housing market was a statement by Andrew LePage, a MDA DataQuick analyst: “Overall, prices still appear soft, they’re not plunging anymore, but I also don’t see them climbing consistently month over month in most areas. When they climb, it’s pretty minor. They’re flat, at best, in most cases.”
The first time, lower end properties are generating the most interest. It is quite common to see multiple offers and properties selling for at, or over, the listed price in the first time buyer market segment. The majority of the offers are FHA with 3.5% down.
San Diego real estate agents
San Diego Property Tax Assessements Drop $9+Billion
San Diego
San Diego county Assessor/Recorder/Clerk David Butler issued a report showing the assessed value of all taxable property in San Diego County decreased 2.3 percent, or $9.46 billion, in 2008.
Butler believes the decrease in total assessed value reflects the continued decline in residential property values and a slowdown in commercial sales and new construction.
The largest downturns in residential market were in Chula Vista, Lemon Grove, Escondido, San Marcos and Oceanside. Increases in assessed values were seen only in Del Mar, Coronado, Solana Beach, Poway and Encinitas.
San Diego home values
San Diego real estate – Will Home Values Rebound?
The main fact that will keep a cap on home appreciation in San Diego and California is that the severity of our housing bust has clearly broken the myth that San Diego and/or California homes could never really drop. Once San Diego housing does bottom, it may be many years before we see any measurable, sustained housing appreciation.
San Diego and California are now experiencing rising unemployment and huge deficits, which have caused higher taxes, increased fees and cuts in services. This is not a conducive climate for home appreciation. Also once we bottom, there is the very real possibility that the Obama administration will push for a sliding scale of allowed tax and mortgage interest tax write-offs.
San Diego Home Values … Good News, But Still Declining
San Diego home values seem to have slowed their rate of decline. From December to January San Diego homes saw a 2.6% decline according to Case-Shiller/Standard & Poor's most recent data. Yet, the San Diego home value drop from January to February was only 1%!
Bob Toll stated recently that, other than in the worst four markets in the country (Southern Cal, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Florida) they are seeing a firming of the housing market and expect an upswing in activity (and prices) sometime over the summer months. He said that inventories have largely been absorbed in most markets. He said the four afore mentioned locals have a ways to go before stabilization due to their large excess inventories of housing stocks.
Keep in mind, if you reduce housing prices 30% and reduce interest rates from 7% to 5%, you have just reduced the payment level on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage by 45% – what wasn't affordable suddenly become quite affordable.
That's the good news, the flip side, is that for the year San Diego home values fell 22.9%
There are still billions of dollars worth of 'liars loan' alt-a mortgages that have yet to reset and will perform even worse than subprime. You cannot even begin to think of a bottom when we have yet to pass the bulk of these alt-a resets.
Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of units of shadow inventory owned by banks but yet to be put up for sale.
What about declining incomes and employment levels.
It's going to be hard for a bottom in housing to come without a bottom in job numbers and an increase in wages.
Anyone who points to the latest Case-Shiller data as an indication of a housing turnaround is really grasping at straws.
We are merely at the normal "Spring" inflection point. As soon as the normal selling season hype wears off (probably by July) housing prices may resume their crushing descent downward. Housing is an incredibly slow-moving asset class, so don't worry that you will miss the bottom (it may well be 1 – 2 years off).
Don’t Expect San Diego Housing to Bounce Back any Time Soon
First you must acknowledge that the homeowners who are losing their homes to foreclosure are unable to return to the market and qualify for a mortgage for a minimum of 3 years since subprime lending is essentially gone. Assuming that the housing market will recover as soon as the job market recovers is naive.
By cutting interest rates we can keep the party going for a little while longer but not forever. Ultimately the lack of a productive, healthy manufacturing economy will drag the U.S. down. Look at what has happened to GM
The bottom line is that in addition to not making cars worth buying, GM caved to the absurd demands of the UAW. Now the UAW has killed their goose; people can bitch about Wall Street greed but for my money the American unions are cut from the same cloth as the so called "fat cat" executives.
In order for the job market to recover housing must begin to stabilize and that will not happen until the people who cannot afford their homes have lost them or their mortgages have been successfully modified. I expect to see housing stabilize in about 12-18 months followed by a recovery in jobs.
I also expect that new home construction recovery will be slow and that there will be significant differences in what is built. Smaller, more efficient homes will replace a significant portion of the McMansions.
According to estimates by Zelman & Associates, single-family existing home sales will continue to decline next year by 9% and in 2011 by a further 3%. New home sales will bottom in 2010, but house prices, down 19% year-over-year in February according to the S&P/Case Shiller Index will continue to fall through 2009 to levels last seen in 2003. A ray of light means precious little when everything is factored in. I
Potential San Diego real estate investors are wise to watch any pseudo real estate sales rally from the sidelines.
All this to point out that: Don't expect San Diego housing to bounce back any time soon. San Diego real estate
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San Diego Real Estate …The Coming Up-tick
For San Diego real estate, or for that matter perhaps all of California real estate, sales activity is about to pick up. Yes, the stars seem to be aligned for real estate buyers throughout Southern California. Will this be the long-awaited bottom to the real estate bust? Are real estate prices about to spike upward? Is now a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase San Diego real estate?
Traditionally, the season from mid-March through September is the busiest time for real estate activity. Combine this with long-term fixed mortgage rates around 5%, home prices around 40 to 50% of their 2005 values, a very generous federal $8000 tax credit for first-time buyers and an unbelievable California state new home buyers tax credit of 5% or $10,000, whichever is less, and you now have a potential to see double-digit increases in Southern California real estate sales.
Now, add to the above positive factors the new California law, called California foreclosure prevention act, which becomes effective May 21, 2009. This new law, which foolishly interferes with the free market, extends the normal foreclosure. They now take an additional 90 days… So in essence, just at our seasonally strong sales time, this new state law will dramatically affect the amount of new foreclosures coming on the market. The normal supply of foreclosures will be skewed, causing the Soundbite news media to declare a huge drop in foreclosures and available housing inventories.
Once the additional 90 day for the extended foreclosure period works it way through the system (August 21, 2009), sometime in late September or early October, the news media will again be reporting an uptick in foreclosure activity.
In conclusion, if you are planning on selling San Diego real estate, now may be a very opportune time. If you are planning on buying San Diego real estate to live in, and plan to hold onto it 10 or more years, now may also be an opportune time to get into the market. Personally, with that said, I believe the real estate activity update we are about to experience will most likely be short-lived, and starting in September or October, we will see a continuation of declining real estate values in San Diego that may very likely extend until the first quarter of 2010. San Diego real estate
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San Diego Real Estate – The Truth
The truth about the San Diego reaol estate market:
TRUTH – Many people assumed San Diego real estate values could never go down.
TRUTH – Many let people greed replace common sence.
TRUTH – Many San Diego homeowners used their home's equity to live beyond their means.
TRUTH – Our Government cannot correct the poor decisions made by all homeowners!
TRUTH – Many people entered into home mortgage loans that they simply could not afford.
TRUTH – Many lenders created an atmosphere and a loan package that tempted too many people into a false sense of ability to pay.
At the end of the day, the thruth is that if someone cannot afford the mortgage (and insurance, HOA fees, and property taxes) they, sadly, must give up the home. The truth is the truth. 60 years of living through life's challenges taught me that lesson. Be responsible for your decisions and the healing can begin. Use whatever assistance comes now to face reality and if you cannot afford your home then leave it and start over. Your family and your country will respect you more and you will respect yourself as well. Reality decisions are never easy but always necessary. San Diego real estate agents
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