This is our third look this year at a house in the Ranch of Carlsbad – the other two closed over $4,000,000 (one famously at $1,000,000 over list). This property didn’t sell in the first month, probably due to the interior looking somewhat original and in the Ranch – where lots are at least a half-acre – buyers expect more usable yard. The listing went live on April 7th at $3,400,000, they lowered it a month later to $3,250,000, and then it went pending on May 27th. It closed three weeks later for $3,175,000, which is a modest 2% discount off list.
This 1998 tract house sold for $2,440,000, or +$144,000 over list price (+6%). The +6% should be about the maximum from now on. Heck, these are selling for the same money as they were getting next door in the Ranch of Carlsbad last summer!
This film was taken on May 25th, a month after mortgage rates hit 5%.
I can’t wait to hear from the doomers who swear that because sellers had to take a whopping $50,000 haircut off the list price to sell this house to cash buyers who closed in two weeks (with sellers who wanted to occupy until August 1st), that this comp means the market is in trouble.
Would you pay almost $3,000,000 for this house, plus free rent?
This is more evidence of how popular the homes with bigger yards and a pool on a culdesac are – so popular that this buyer paid $401,000 over list for this Carlsbad property:
The old Encina Power station site is designated for tourist uses, and open space. A seven-story hotel like this will undoubtedly be proposed – will it fly in Carlsbad? Rooms here go for $300-$2,100 per night:
The smoke stack and the rest of the Encina Power Station have been demolished.
What does this mean for Carlsbad?
Before agreeing to support the approval of the new plant, the city negotiated an agreement with NRG and SDG&E to help ensure the project would provide the greatest local community benefit possible.
Some of the provisions of this agreement include:
A guarantee that NRG will completely decommission, demolish and remediate the old Encina Power Station site within three years of Encina’s retirement, at no cost to taxpayers.
NRG will turn over to the city several pieces of property surrounding the lagoon and the blufftop across from the plant. NRG will work with the city and the community to create a plan for the site’s future use.
What can go on the site?
The General Plan envisions redevelopment of the Encina Power Station, as well as the adjacent SDG&E North Coast Service Center, with visitor-serving commercial and open space uses to provide residents and visitors enhanced opportunities for coastal access and services, reflecting the California Coastal Act’s goal of “maximizing public access to the coast.”
After seeing two homes go off for more than $4,000,000, buying this for $3,100,000 probably doesn’t seem so bad. But the house next door closed for $2,450,000, and the highest sale on this street was $2,220,000 twelve months earlier and was a newer Davidson home up around the bend:
Agents who can't price a home properly or are afraid to have a tough conversation with their sellers are more damaging to the housing market than rising rates.
