The historical relation in San Diego normally quoted between rent and purchase cost is generally somewhere between 150 and 200x rent, with the higher desireability places going for closer to the top. Since 12x annual is pretty close to 150, I think you may be using a “rule of thumb” that is designed more for areas that aren’t “premium” (e.g. Mira Mesa, La Mesa, etc).

Be that as it may, housing prices to rent ratios in San Diego are still significantly out of whack. At the peak of the bubble, I would guess they were up at about 300x rent as a general rule. They’re falling now, but as has been noted all over the blog, they’re falling first from the outlying and inland areas, and the correction is slowly making its way to the coast. It’ll be quite awhile yet before we get back to normal historical ratios. I suspect the Pt. Loma area though will not likely dip too much below 200x rent – it’s very central, and very popular, though not quite as chic an address as La Jolla or Del Mar.