I’ve lived in Temecula for 16 years, went to High School here. I’ve seen homes QUADRUPLE in price since 1996. Not all homes, but many like paloma del sol, were around and under the $100k in 96, and the same ones have sold for over $425k. Sadly, home buyers here STILL expect these kind of gains like it is their God given right. IMHO the bubble here is amongst the worst in the nation. Sold my home last year and now I rent, but there are still some tools out here who think their castle is worth $700k or more.
The more people continue to live like they currently do, the more they will run this place into the ground. Traffic is horrible and getting worse, gas is down a bit now but still relatively high and will go back up soon. All the people here that actually make decent $$ usually commute at least an hour each way to SD, LA, OC or maybe Riverside. These guys arent all that smart, everyone drives huge trucks and suvs, usually alone, despite the horrid fuel economy. People here are up to their ears in debt as “keeping up with the Jones’s”is priority one for these yuppies.
You would think that ridiculous home prices alone would keep people away from making bad decisions about their house, but the taxes are another story. Take a 3000sqft $700k home on a 6200sqft lot in Harveston. The taxes are 1.9% per year. Thats over $13k a year. If the home was paid off, you still would have to budget over $1100 per month just for property taxes. Throw in the $130 hoa, and fire insurance, and you are at about $1400 a month to live in your paid off home. This makes absolutely no sense to me and can no way represent the amount of money it takes to own a home. Imagine buying this home traditionally with 20% down and a 30 year fixed loan. It would be $140k down, a mortgage of about $560k. P and I would be $3285 add taxes and ins. about $4600 total per month not including utilities. And how many people can honestly afford this in the Temecula Valley?