Higher End RE

User Forum Topic
Submitted by 2-stroke triple on July 1, 2009 - 11:17am

My life partner and I have rented in Coronado for the past few years. We've been watching prices in Coronado, Mission Hills and Kensington with the intent of buying a single-family home. Our observations:

- Values have fallen significantly from the peak
- Not much is selling, particularly above $1.5 million
- Sellers are generally not willing to lower their asking prices appreciably
- Houses are languishing on the market for months, sometimes years.

After reading numerous comments from RE agents on this board and others, we are left with the impression that houses in the $750,000 to $1.5 million range are getting multiple offers and flying off the market. Additionally, agents representing buyers are submitting offers but not getting responses. Perhaps this is true in Carmel Valley and Carlsbad, but we are not seeing it in the higher end neighborhoods down south.

Any insight into the current state of affairs in Coronado, Mission Hills and Kensington would be greatly appreciated.

‹ San Diego Home Sales about to be revised downward BIGTIME (89% to 6.5% increase in May) Trash the kitchen? ›
I have friends that live in
Submitted by UCGal on July 1, 2009 - 12:28pm.

I have friends that live in Mission Hills and Kensington.

I think one of the reasons both areas are less "hot" than CV is schools. Mission Hills has the excellent public school of Grant Elementary - but not much for middle schools or high schools. My friends in Kensington send their daughter to a charter school because they were NOT going to send her to the default school.

Both neighborhoods are much more interesting than CV, IMO, if you remove the schools issue. Older, classic homes. Lots of character. Many of the high end homes back up to pocket canyons in both neighborhoods. Plus both have restaurants/shops and a walkability that is not present in CV.

A lot of people prefer newer construction, though. And that's available in CV more than M.H. or Kensington.

In this market, though - school districts matter. Which is why CV is hotter than the neighborhoods you're talking about.

(I'm less familiar with Coronado's schools -so I left that out.)

I have two clients shopping
Submitted by SD Realtor on July 1, 2009 - 12:35pm.

I have two clients shopping in Kensington and both are being very patient. Not alot of quality inventory there but to me it is cearly nowhere near as frantic as places like Carmel Valley, LCV and 4S. You will be well served to continue to be patient because I think there will be continued depreciation there and it will occur marginally sooner then the other places that are more desired primarly due to school district and newer housing stock.

Until just this past week,
Submitted by DaCounselor on July 1, 2009 - 12:47pm.

Until just this past week, Mission Hills has been one of the deadest "higher-end" areas in SD County in the $1 mil-plus market. There has been a recent flurry of closings in the $1 mil-plus range but overall it has been very slow year. We will certainly know much more once we get through the summer. I'm estimating about 70 $1 mil-plus listings in the area currently, so there is alot of inventory for this area. I haven't looked hard at the numbers recently but I'm estimating that is 2-3 years of inventory in the $1 mil-plus market. I'm expecting further downward pressure on prices for several years in MH.

2-stroke triple, Be sure you
Submitted by XBoxBoy on July 1, 2009 - 2:23pm.

2-stroke triple,

Be sure you don't confuse comments by people about hot markets with the high priced markets. They are not the same. I don't think anyone on this board is claiming that houses priced $750,000 to 1.5m are flying off the market. If so, I would immediately challenge them to show some examples.

The high end markets are all very slow. Some extremely slow. Jim The Realtor has a post on his blog a day or so ago that pointed out that in Del Mar and Rancho Sante Fe in June, 60 new listings came on the market and not one of them found a buyer!

http://www.bubbleinfo.com/2009/06/hotnes...

People always want to paint the situation with a broad brush, but nowadays, any broad brush will be a gross misrepresentation of what is going on.

BTW. I used to live in Kensington north of adams. It is still my favorite neighborhood in all of san diego hands down. You can't go wrong buying there.

XBoxBoy

2 stroke triple? It is H1 or
Submitted by snail on July 1, 2009 - 11:20pm.

2 stroke triple? It is H1 or H2, or the Suzuki water buffalo? Sorry for the highjack.

Thanks for the inputs
Submitted by 2-stroke triple on July 2, 2009 - 5:11pm.

Thanks for the inputs everyone. We will continue to be patient. Hopefully the higher end will be cheaper by next summer. Having no children, I hadn’t given much thought to the schools issue in Mission Hills and Kensington.

We just renewed our lease in Coronado, giving us another year. Additionally, the landlord lowered our rent after we stated that we were looking for a less-expensive house. Lots of properties here for rent, something we are not used to seeing particularly in summer.

Regarding Kensington, I have talked to more people who have stated that Kensington is their favorite neighborhood in San Diego. I guess when it gets down to family considerations, many who would like to live there and could afford to do so put their kids first and choose areas with better schools. I can just imagine how expensive Kensington would be if it had decent schools.

Regarding current housing prices throughout the county, it appears that there may be a price point where buyers are balking. Perhaps it’s somewhere between $600,000 and a million. Maybe it has to do with the conforming loan limit. Properties below this magic number are moving quickly, while those above aren’t.

A gross generalization perhaps? Neighborhood dependent?

The bike is a 1972 H2 almost fully restored. I ride it maybe three times a year. It’s a head turner. Partner hates it because it’s not comfortable and because we always smell like two-stroke oil after taking it out (part of the charm actually). So I’m pretty much left to short spins around town.

2-stroke triple wrote: smell
Submitted by snail on July 2, 2009 - 7:10pm.

2-stroke triple wrote:

smell like two-stroke oil after taking it out (part of the charm actually). So I’m pretty much left to short spins around town.

The smell of Pre-mix gas is "intoxicating", especially if you add the Castrol-R (do they still sell those?). That's a killer bike, it would be perfect if you could fit the engine into a modern frame (with some adequate brakes!)