San Diego is #1! Hat tip to Mitch for sending this in:
According to the magazine, the Value Index measures how comfortably the average resident of a metro area can afford to live within their means. Specifically, it looks at housing affordability, as well as federal data on the parity between regional prices and national averages.
Home prices were one of the factors that pushed San Diego up on the ranking, given that average prices are considerably higher than the national rate.
In August, the median price for a single-family home came in right at $1 million for the first time in the region’s history — nearly $650,000 more than the national average by some estimates.
U.S. News and World Report also pointed to additional fees that San Diego residents have to pay, such as homeowners association dues or apartment complex maintenance costs, as another factor driving its unaffordability.
However, the magazine said that many residents are willing to pay elevated prices relating to cost-of-living, given other aspects of the region that make it an ideal place to live.
They added that some San Diegans often refer “to the cost-of-living differences as the ‘sunshine tax,’ or price of enjoying a year-round temperate climate.”
Many of the other metro areas that were placed along the top 10 have similar “sunny” reputations with their climate, including cities Los Angeles, Honolulu, Miami and Santa Barbara.
Los Angeles, which came in second place on the ranking, was also given a score of 3.3 for residents’ ability to afford living there. Although, San Diego’s northern neighbor comparatively had lower scores for other metrics used by the magazine to look at “best places to live,” including the overall and quality of life indexes.
This ranking comes as inflation rate nationwide remains to a persistent problem for federal officials, but San Diegans seem to have been feeling it even more.
In San Diego, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that the city exceeded the year-to-year national rate of inflation, which was around 3.7% in September. Over the last 12 months, prices in the San Diego area advanced about 4.7% overall, according to the bureau.
Housing costs have been one of the most pressing issues facing elected officials, with prices skyrocketing for both buyers and renters due to a continued lack of available units to meet the demand in the region.
Paying $6.3 million is the biggest boondoggle since the city paid $10 million for the closed Pacific View school.
ENCINITAS, Calif. – City leaders in Encinitas are moving forward in their purchase of about 1.5 acres of land at La Costa Avenue and Highway 101, known to many as “Hippie Hill.”
“We wanted to see this land preserved and protected,” said Encinitas resident Elena Thompson. The purchase of the land is nearly official, with escrow expected to close by the end of September.
“Having the opportunity to acquire this land and keep it from being developed into timeshares, I think the community has very much appreciated the work that we’re doing here,” Mayor Tony Kranz said.
The northern end of Leucadia has seen the construction of a hotel and more development on the way including a nearby apartment complex, so the preservation of this land was paramount for long-time locals.
“Now it’s not going to be developed. That’s great for the city. It’s a small parcel, but every open space is great,” Scott Campbell said.
At Wednesday’s city council meeting, council talked about how they plan to finance the land, purchased for $6 million.
The city plans to use cash reserves for the initial purchase and then use lease revenue bonds to build the reserves back up.
“Some are a little concerned about what effect the roughly $400,000 a year that servicing this debt is going to have on our budget. I think that it’s important enough that we will make it work,” Kranz said.
The public will be asked to weigh in on what they want to see done with the open space at a future city council meeting.
Treat your taste buds to food and drink samples from 15+ restaurants and enjoy local wine and local craft beer served at 20 Sip Stops hosted by shops and salons. There will be non-alcoholic sip stops throughout town as well! Pause along the way to enjoy live music at several venues.
The Carlsbad city council approved more apartments to be built at the entry to the downtown village area. Between the three projects mentioned here, there will be a total of 480 apartments….and none for sale! Excerpts:
A four-story building with 156 apartments has been approved for construction on a site occupied by a hotel and three single-family homes on the eastern side of Carlsbad’s downtown Village neighborhood.
The developer, Wermers Companies, built the adjacent Lofts apartments, a four-story, mixed-use building with 106 apartments and ground-floor retail that opened about a year ago at the northwest corner of Carlsbad Village Drive and Interstate 5. The two buildings will share a driveway with access to both Grand Avenue and Carlsbad Village Drive.
The Carlsbad City Council unanimously approved a site map and development plan for the project Tuesday, and council members praised the company for working with the community. No one at the meeting opposed the project, and the city received a number of letters in support of it.
“It looks good,” said Mayor Keith Blackburn, adding that he likes the way the building is set back from Carlsbad Village Drive so that it doesn’t make “a continuous wall” with The Lofts building.
“It doesn’t surprise me that we don’t have anybody here to speak out against the project,” Blackburn said.
The 2.95-acre site consolidates five lots between Carlsbad Village Drive and Grand Avenue, just east of the Hope Avenue alley. The 109-room hotel called the Carlsbad Village Inn and single-family homes on the property will be demolished, but a Carl’s Jr. restaurant there will remain.
The location is directly across Carlsbad Village Drive from the Carlsbad Village Plaza anchored by a Smart & Final grocery, where another San Diego developer has proposed a mixed-use project with 218 apartments and 13,800 square feet of shops and restaurants.
That project will include retail businesses in two single-story buildings facing Carlsbad Village Drive. The apartments, including 22 reserved for very low-income tenants, will be in two five-story buildings behind the shops. The proposal is expected to go to the Carlsbad City Council for approval as soon as July 2024.
Homeowners in San Diego are the least likely sellers in the country to lose money if they put their house on the market, according to a new study.
The study, which was conducted by the real estate company Redfin, analyzed real estate data from 50 of the most populous metro areas in the U.S. to get a sense of current market trends.
San Diego had the lowest share of homes sold at a loss — only 1.1%, the study found — over a three-month period that ended in July 2023. Nationwide, the share of homes sold for less money than they were purchased was around 3%.
San Diego is one of the most competitive and expensive real estate markets in the country, according to Redfin, with most homes selling within 12 days of their listing this year.
This year so far, over 5,500 homes have been sold in the San Diego metro area. The average sale for these homes comes in around $901,000 — up 3% from last year — and more than half are sold above asking price.
They expect another 200,000 homes to be built in SD County? Where? MCAS Miramar?
San Diego officials are expecting an end to the region’s perpetual growth.
Driving the news: San Diego’s population is expected to peak in 2042, and then decline by about 100,000 people by 2060, according to the latest regional forecast by the San Diego Association of Governments.
Ray Major, SANDAG’s chief economist, told the agency’s board last month this is the first regional forecast expecting a population decline.
“Every other forecast has had huge increases, with the San Diego region growing to 4 million people by 2050 … Now we’re looking at 3.4 million.”
Why it matters: The forecast carries planning implications for major, taxpayer-funded resources like housing, transportation infrastructure, water and energy.
By the numbers: San Diego’s growth machine has been slowing for decades.
The region grew by 1 million people from 1980 to 2000. But in the last 20 years, San Diego added half that.
Planners now forecast just 140,000 new San Diegans over the next two decades.
That’s when the region’s population is expected to peak. By 2060 the region is expected to have just 40,000 more people than it has today.
Between the lines: The region’s death rate is increasing, its birth rate is decreasing, and migration is flat.
One in 10 San Diego residents were over 65 in 2000. By 2060, that’ll be one in four residents.
That aging population will demand different government services and have different transportation and housing needs, said Cynthia Burke, SANDAG’s senior director of data science.
“Our parks are going to need more pickleball courts and fewer play structures,” she said during the July board meeting.
Here’s a sky shot of the South Carlsbad/Encinitas region in 1967. The La Costa Resort opened in 1965 (in the center of the photo) and another nine holes was added on the north end in 1984.
We know that 80% of readers don’t go past the headlines, so the UT is challenging their customers lately to figure out the direction of the real estate market.
These are their headlines from the past two days:
Yesterday
Today
I have reached out to the author previously, but no response.
