Neighborhoods where median home prices and sales have risen, thanks to investors and bargain chasers
This neighborhood, east of downtown San Diego, has been a favorite among real estate investors and other bargain chasers, and won in the most-improved category among roughly 90 ZIP codes in the county. However, this area took a hard fall before it started its steady climb up. Its all-time peak was $407,000 in the third quarter of 2006.
Flippers have stayed busy installing new kitchens, bathrooms and carpeting at properties here, said Patrick Finn, a Century 21 Award agent in Rancho San Diego. This area has been popular with investors because they’ve been able to snap up value homes for less than $300,000, which has been a hot price range. This area of El Cajon also fell a long way from its peak of $435,000 in the middle of 2006.
Prices stayed in the $400,000 range during the first two years of the current housing cycle (2005 to 2012) and exploded to $525,000 during the last quarter of 2007. Prices took a quick dive the next quarter to $365,000, a 30 percent decrease, and kept falling. Median prices in this area have slowly climbed up to the $200,000 range during the past two years. However, housing distress may be impeding quicker progress. This area ranked 11th in most mortgage defaults per 1,000 homes in the community.
The College Area followed the oft-heard script of a neighborhood that soared to meteoric heights during the housing boom but lost steam once the recession hit. Though the median price has started to bounce back a bit, this area is among those suffering from foreclosures. College ranked seventh in foreclosures last month.
This neighborhood reached its trough in the first quarter of 2009, around the same time three others in our Top 10 recorded their low points. This ZIP code ranked low in completed foreclosures and mortgage defaults in March and also a year ago.
Prices have lingered in the $100,000 range in this area for the past two years until the most recent quarter when they broke back into the $200,000 region. Still, like many areas in this price range, it has been an attractive destination for cash and investor buyers, who lately have made up a larger-than-normal portion of total buyers in San Diego County.
Sales in this area began to pick up in late 2008, when prices began their decline. Values fell from $329,250 in one quarter to $300,000 the next quarter; that decline continued into the $200,000 range — again a ripe price for cash buyers.
This neighborhood’s trough for sales fell to its lowest point in early 2008, but the bounce-back was swift. Within a quarter, home sales soared to 74. The area’s central location, presence of bank-owned homes and more-affordable inventory have all been factors contributing to the selling power of homes, real estate pros have said.
This was among five areas that recorded its sales trough in early 2008, when prices began to slip and the county’s housing conditions were in their worst shape. Sales here gradually picked up and have remained in the 40 to 60 range for the past two years. Also noteworthy: Bonita’s prices have fallen drastically from the start of the current housing market in 2005 to now. The median price dropped from $617,000 in the first quarter of 2005 to $372,500 in the first quarter of 2012, a nearly 40 percent drop.
This area’s prices continue to be depressed, contributing to why it might be seeing one of the biggest bounce-backs in sales in the county. The median price in the first quarter of 2012 was $334,000, the lowest that prices have been in this neighborhood since the start of 2005, which marks the beginning of the current housing cycle. Back then, the median price was $760,000. This marks a 56 percent decline in home values.
For a complete list of zips, click here.
Written by
Lily Leung
San Diego Union Tribune
