High Schools Leveling?
We’ve been talking about how the quality of schools are critical to the homebuying equation. Here are the local public high schools, sorted by their totals of four scores from www.greatschools.net:
| School Name | GS Rating | ’08 API | ’09 API | Parents Rating (# out of 5) | Total |
| Canyon Crest | |||||
| Torrey Pines | |||||
| Poway | |||||
| Westview | |||||
| Rcho Bernardo | |||||
| Mt. Carmel | |||||
| San Dieguito | |||||
| LC Canyon | |||||
| Carlsbad | |||||
| San Marcos |
While it used to be that Torrey Pines had an edge on others around the county, it is remarkable how similar the scores are among the top five schools. I think you also have to hand it to San Marcos HS for making the strides they’ve made too.
With the scores bunching together, how else do you decide? The greatschools website has remarks from parents and students, but you never know what agenda they might be pushing.
P.S. Catholic schools do the same testing, but refuse to release their scores – but the website has testimonials on CCHS, and not all are flattering.
Leucadia Price Check
Hymettus is one of the more prominent streets in Leucadia, but there haven’t been any sales there since summer. So two older sales on Hymettus are included, the first closed in July, 2009, and the second was January, 2009:
I hesitated with the first story, but it demonstrates how a life-changing event at the wrong time can be very costly.
More CV Peak vs. Now
A few more recent sales around Carmel Valley, and how they compared to model-match sales at peak:
State Tax on Short Sales
San Diegans who have lost their homes through foreclosure or short-sales thought they had emerged from the dark times and could start rebuilding their lives.
Then the state tax man came calling.
With less than six weeks before taxes are due, an estimated 16,000 former homeowners statewide will owe $15 million in extra income taxes this year and $29 million through 2012.
The tax applies to what is called the “cancellation of debt” that occurs when property owners lose their homes through foreclosure or arrange a short-sale in which they sell for less than the mortgage balance. The lender sends them a form itemizing the forgiven debt, and the amount is subject to income tax.
Congress exempted most homeowners from the extra federal tax through 2012, and the state followed suit for 2007 and 2008 but did not extend the provision last year. The state Assembly may vote tomorrow on a bill to repeal the tax, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed such a bill last year over unrelated provisions.
“They’re probably stuck,” San Diego tax attorney Bob Kevane said of former homeowners facing the tax. “The biggest way around it is if you’re insolvent.”
SD Biomed
Hat tip to Steve for sending this biomed/VC article along:
How has San Diego’s biomedical industry, arguably the region’s key economic sector, been weathering the downturn, and what’s its outlook for the future?
According to a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and the California Healthcare Institute (CHI), the industry has suffered along with the rest of the economy, but remains resilient. Nevertheless, storm clouds loom on the horizon, especially in the form of regulatory and reimbursement issues.
For several years, PWC has partnered with CHI, which advocates on behalf of the Golden State’s biomed industry, to produce the annual study. It reveals that, in San Diego, venture capital has fallen from a recent high of $1.9 billion in 2007 to $900 million in 2009—a 50 percent decrease that’s slightly worse than the national and statewide fall in seed money. A similar drop-off occurred in investments directed specifically at life science ventures.
Unsurprisingly, though, San Diego far outpaces the rest of the state in investments in biomedical companies as a percentage of total venture funding. Unlike in Silicon Valley, where only a quarter of every seed dollar goes to life sciences, the proportion here is more than two-thirds. Statewide, the computer (hardware, software, and services) industry employs about as many people as the life sciences sector, both of which dwarf any other industry in California.
But perhaps most encouraging is that nearly two-thirds of all venture investments in San Diego are in startup or early stages, far exceeding the national average and auguring positive future developments here.
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This article has San Diego ranked seventh in the nation for venture capital:
METRO AREAS BY RANK
RankMetro AreaScore
1. San Francisco 5.50%
2. Seattle 2.71%
3. Austin 1.83%
4. Boston 1.53%
5. Raleigh-Durham 1.35%
6. Denver 1.20%
7. San Diego 1.01%
8. Grand Rapids 0.49%
9. Washington 0.44%
10. Portland 0.43%
11. Atlanta 0.42%
12. Minneapolis 0.42%
13. Los Angeles 0.36%
14. Orlando 0.34%
15. St. Louis 0.34%
16. New York 0.33%
17. Las Vegas 0.30%
18. Miami 0.29%
19. Rochester 0.29%
20. Nashville 0.24%
21. Chicago 0.23%
22. Philadelphia 0.23%
23. Phoenix 0.22%
24. Dallas 0.20%
Derby Hill Wrap
Here’s a tour of Derby Hill, the Pardee tract of big bombers south of the 56 freeway. In the MLS remarks of the only model listed, it said that the furniture did not convey. The house across the street (towards the end of video) that’s mentioned as pending, listed for $1,449,000, had multiple offers and just closed escrow a couple of days ago – full price:
The recent Mustang Ridge resales on video:
A. The $1,337,500 was 2% under price the seller had paid, but buyers’ were represented by father who may have kicked in commission.
B. The $1,335,000 was $100,000 over what seller paid in March, 2007.
C. The $1,449,000 was $6,000 under what seller paid in March, 2007.
Yes, they had paid for improvements during their stay, plus closing costs.
Carmel Valley Peak vs. 2010
What is the difference between peak pricing and today?
Many considered that 2006 was the peak of the market in 92130, here is a youtube tour of a few recent sales, and how they compared to previous comps:
Hat tip to Rob who sent this in:
SAN DIEGO — The safest place to live in San Diego includes parts of Rancho Peñasquitos and Carmel Valley, according to a new study by a private company.
NeighborhoodScout, a company that specializes in helping families and businesses make relocation decisions, took a variety of crime data from the nation’s 50 largest cities and came up with a ranking of 1 to 100, with 100 being the best score. It recently posted an article on WalletPop.com that scored Rancho Peñasquitos/Carmel Valley at 97. The chance of becoming a victim of crime in the area — which included ZIP codes 92130, 92129 and 92121 — was listed as 1 in 769.
Data included reports from local agencies and the FBI and looked at violent and property crimes, including murder, rape, theft and burglary. According to the study, the nation’s average crime index is 50. The company’s Web site said the area around and west of Carmel Mountain and Black Mountain roads is in the top 15 percent of the nation’s wealthiest communities and has a median home value of $746,668.
More Taxpayer Blues ($7.8M)
A fraud follow-up by Kelly at the Voice of San Diego:
All of the 81 condos from the Sommerset Villas, Sommerset Woods and Westlake Ranch complexes involved in the scam have been repossessed. Twenty-four have yet to find new buyers. But the other 57 have resold for prices drastically lower than the mortgages were worth, let alone the initial purchase prices.
The U.S. taxpayer is paying for the mounting losses. Across the complexes, the cost to taxpayers is at least $7.8 million.
When the units were just in the beginning stages of foreclosure, it was too soon to tell whether the government-sponsored mortgage companies, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, had definitely purchased the shaky loans. Now that the units have gone back to the bank and resold, public records clearly show the majority of these units had mortgages that were sold to Fannie and Freddie — now largely owned by taxpayers.
Take Sommerset Villas. The 26 units previously owned by McConville’s straw buyers that have resold as foreclosures have sold, on average, for 71 percent less than the purchase prices in 2008. And some have been worse: A 480-square-foot studio apartment that sold for $265,000 in 2008 sold in October for $47,000 — an 82 percent drop.
That’s added up to at least $3.8 million in losses for Fannie and Freddie so far in just that complex. Add to that estimate a $2.7 million loss in Sommerset Woods, and a $1.3 million loss in Westlake Ranch, according to an analysis of property records.
Commercial Report
From an article in the sddt:
The commercial mortgage-backed securities market is making a comeback, and capital appears to be slowly returning, but construction financing may be elusive for a very long time.
These were a few of the conclusions reached by Mark Gibson, Holliday Fenoglio Fowler vice chairman and executive managing member during a session at The Grand Del Mar resort in the Del Mar Heights area recently.
Gibson, whose mortgage banking and financial services firm has closed more than $235 billion in 11,000-plus transactions, contends that despite reports to the contrary, there isn’t a liquidity problem. “I don’t think it’s a lack of capital … it’s a question of price …” Gibson said adding that those who might sell are unwilling to at these depressed values.
Holliday Fenoglio, which sponsored the event, reported that by its calculations, prices are currently between 30 percent and 40 percent off their 2007 peak in the county according to location.
Jim Klinge
Klinge Realty Group
Broker-Associate, Compass
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