Prices fall throughout San Diego, but every ZIP code is different

Throughout the country, and especially right here in San Diego, home prices have been declining for the past few months, following a tremendous acceleration from about 2000-2005. Although the median price of homes has been down, not all areas are fairing the same, especially throughout San Diego.

But more often than not, the places that experienced the biggest increases in prices are the ones that are fairing the worst right now.

A November 5, 2006 article by Roger M. Showley of The San Diego Union Tribune, “Prices are declining, but not all areas act the same,” discusses the trend of falling home prices.

“Nationally and locally, home prices are trending downward for the first time in years, as buyers drive tougher bargains and some sellers, desperate to move, accept a cutback in their hoped-for windfall profits.”

“‘I think it's safe to say that prices are not going up anymore,’ said Charlie Ahern, president of the Coronado Association of Realtors. Judging by nearly two years' worth of figures from DataQuick Information Systems, that is an understatement for his city.”

Coronado has actually been one area of San Diego that has been the most volatile. They have seen tremendous, over-the-top price gains, followed by tough times of decelerating values.

According to DataQuick’s numbers, all except three ZIP codes in San Diego County have declined from their all-time high median prices. In fact, Coronado seems to be fairing the worst right now.

“Among neighborhoods with at least 10 resale-home transactions, Coronado is off the most, down by 63.4 percent – from a high of $3.2 million in February to the most current figure, $1.17 million in September.”

We have seen a slight decrease in the amount of homes for sale on the market, and this is probably because sellers are getting frustrated with the current state of the market and do not want to reduce prices any more and are pulling their homes off the market.

“David Cabot, next year's president of the San Diego Association of Realtors, said the distribution of the peak prices geographically underscores the unpredictable character of real estate trends.”

“‘Different parts of the market are popular and active at different times,’ he said. ‘When the market is not going up, every segment is not tracking the same. Certain markets have a certain appeal to certain groups at certain times. Hillcrest booms awhile, then quiets down, then North Park, La Jolla, Rancho Bernardo, Del Mar go through peaks for no apparent reason other than the fact that they become very popular and people want to get into that market.’”

Cabot said it is very difficult to predict where the market is headed, but he does predict that the inventory of unsold homes on the market will probably decrease during the next five months, leaving only extremely motivated sellers on the market.

But there were some markets in San Diego that actually faired pretty well, despite all of the other bad numbers coming in.

“Among the three ZIP code areas that reached their all-time peaks in September, Oceanside south (92054) continues rising because of its relative bargain prices and appeal to southern Orange County buyers, said Mary Crostini of Crostini Real Estate. The other two are Logan Heights (92113) and Carlsbad southwest (92011).”

It will be interesting to continue to track the prices and see where San Diego will be in the future.