San Diego Real Estate Market Update

San Diego Real Estate Market Update

Pacific Beach Real Estate - Mission Beach Real Estate
San Diego County Real Estate

Chapter 7: San Diego County

Sales and Prices in San Diego County Real Estate:

The December numbers show that San Diego's housing market may be gaining some strength. Although the sale of homes fell 35.4% from December, 2006, it was the lowest decline of all 6 southern California counties. San Diego County's median sales price of $430,000 represents a decline of 13.1% from a year ago yet, it is important to note that contrary to what the media would like you to believe, there are communities in San Diego County where both median and average prices have been increasing. Yes, Inland North San Diego County saw existing homes decline 9.3% to $507,000 but for Coastal North San Diego County, the median price of an existing home in December rose .8% to $645,000 from December of last year. Thus, in order to ascertain what has occurred in a specific community, you cannot use a "broad brush" because what may have occurred in Carlsbad for instance, could be very much different from what has taken place in another part of the county. One other note. The number of active listings for both detached and attached homes within San Diego County has decreased each of the last 6 months.

Additional Chapters:

Return to the Introduction of the San Diego Real Estate Market Update

Defaults and Foreclosures in San Diego County Real Estate:

In the 3rd quarter, San Diego saw 5,673 Notices of Default filed on new properties. Foreclosures numbered 2,157 with most being sub-prime loans. San Diego has 60,000 properties with sub-prime loans which represent 9.6% of all loans in the county. Only 11.3% of sub-prime loan homeowners have missed 2 payments. Presently, the 6,000 that are in active foreclosure were originated between July 2005 and September 2006. This is a small number when you consider that San Diego has in excess of 1,125,827 housing units!

Incomes and Wealth in San Diego County

San Diego County has a median income of approximately $55,000 but Del Mar's median income is in excess of $89,000. San Diego is home to 7 billionaires and 100,030 millionaires; ranking #4 in the U.S. and 9.4% of the wage earners make in excess of $150,000.

Population and Employment in San Diego County:

San Diego County's population grew by 22,000 in the past 12 months. The county's total population is 2,941,454. The county is a net in-migration county. 10.3% of immigrants are Asian and 30.1% are Hispanic. In the last census, 21.5% of the county's entire population is foreign born. The California Department of Finance predicts San Diego County´s population will grow to 4 million by 2050.

The county's work force has 1.47 million workers. The county's unemployment rate is 4.8%, ranking it as the 8th lowest in the state. Income growth for '07 was only 1% while the state averaged 1.2%.

Housing and Rents in San Diego County:

Economic conditions in San Diego indicate that the market is still growing even as the pace of growth has moderated over the past 12 months. Growth may be slow due to the wildfires that claimed more than 1,100 buildings in the county and it is estimated that there will be over $1 billion in insurance claims due to fire damage. Ultimately, the influx of capital will spur growth in the construction sector, having a ripple effect on the rest of the economy and kick-starting economic growth. San Diego County ranks 4th in the U.S. for apartments (due to the high median price of homes) and retail growth (solid economic prospects). The county ranks in the top 10 in the U.S. in rental rate increases at 5.8% due to strong demand verified by the high occupancy rate of 96.0%.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor, California Employment Development Department, U.S. 2006 Census, DataQuick, Realfacts, California Department of Finance, Southern California Governments, Forbes, Hendricks & Partners