Rustico, Ziprealty neighborhood stats are way different than zipskinny. Ziprealty shows the average income in CV at $155,582.
But in response to sdrealtor, my guess is that only about 20%-30% of CV residents fall into the specific profile you mention, this being a higher percentage than other areas like Scripps Ranch, University City, Encinitas, etc. I’ve worked in CV for 10 years and lived here for nearly a year now. My wife and I know personally (or know through others) a pretty wide sampling swath of SFR homeowners here, and I agree with poster zk that there are a large portion (perhaps 50%) that fit the lower economic profile he mentions. There is a further portion, both in detached and attached housing that have an economic profile even below that. Many have over-stretched themselves to live here and definitely don’t have a big “warchest.” Ziprealty says the average Net Worth in CV is $194,133, which hardly can be called a war chest.
On the other hand, Ziprealty shows the average income in Del Mar (92014) to be $206,423 and in Rancho Santa Fe it’s $400,898. Your going to find far more true c-level executives in those two areas (plus La Jolla and Coronado) than CV. CV likely has more junior level execs and the C-level types are more likely to be from smaller companies, successful RE investors, attorneys, doctors, successful small business owners, etc.
My feeling is that CV is much weaker right now than most people realize. Just take a look at Jim the Realtor’s article today on active vs. pending ratios (http://www.bubbleinfo.com).
With that said, I do agree with you sdrealtor, that CV residents are in a better position to “dig in their heels” than nearly all other areas in San Diego County (except La Jolla, Del Mar, RSF, etc.). And that is exactly what they are doing. Both sdrealtor and SD Realtor have predicted this would happen. Most of the inventory on the CV market today has problems (i.e. bad lot, priced unrealistically, run-down, etc.). But, life rolls on: divorce happens, Kids graduate off to college, people want to move to retirement areas, etc. Most people I know don’t want to retire in CV, on the contrary, they are here for their kids. As this massive housing recession drags on, there will be those in nicer CV properties that just can’t wait for the recovery (people on this board seem to agree that won’t happen until 2010-2012) and they will be forced to keep “marking to market” to get their house sold, dragging down comps further. One thing is for sure, CV will be a fascinating case study when this whole thing is over, and it’s dynamic as part of the SD real estate market is why undue attention seems to be focused there on this blog.
