Perspective on the San Diego Real Estate Market
Posted on Wed, Sep 09, 2009
If you’re one of the folks trying to buy a home in the San Diego area right now you may be feeling a little pressure…lots of other buyers and not many available homes…listings are sold in one or two days…but let’s step back a little and look at this from an outside perspective…and I think you’ll like the results!
The last time this fast-paced market was in full force was about 2003-2004…prices were above $500K for an average home…condos were in the $350K range…and all sorts of new and untried loan products were emerging just to allow the average person to squeak their way into a home.
Today we have nice homes in the $300K range…nice condos under $250K and starter condos just over $100K.
Affordability is at an all time high…and those questionable loan products are long gone…replaced by the tried-and-true fixed rate mortgages…and at rates that are still under 6%.
Yes, making ten or twenty offers before you get a contract accepted is trying…no doubt…but weigh that against the reward…a home that you can really afford with a payment that never increases!
And, to be fair to the sellers, right now they are enjoying the best market in the past three years.
Prices are down…but that means the home you move-up to is also a bargain. Sellers can expect to have ten to twenty offers to choose between…many with all-cash or great conventional loan terms attached.
Gone are the days of worrying about how long it would take to sell…and what happens if any particular buyer can’t perform…because there is always a line of folks right behind them eager for the chance to own a home.
Looking at this in perspective we have a healthy market, each side in a transaction is getting something they want, and the keyword here is sustainable.
The lenders are actually qualifying buyers based on income…what a novel concept!
Four years ago we all wondered how can this last?…and it couldn’t. Today we have a clear path to sustainable growth in prices…sustainable because once again loans are tied to income…limiting price growth to something approximating wage growth…and that is the time-honored recipe for stability and success in the Real Estate market!