A lot of the cheap looking pieces of land are messed up. They could have any number of problems that make it undesirable or too expensive to justify building compared to a little bit more expensive lot. These listings have been piling up at the bottom of pricing. This is how it happened in Jamul anyway.Good lots are down but not by a large amount…Not that anyone is buying land. Most land is held free and clear, or nearly so with some small owner carry note, and the sellers just won’t let it go at much less than recent highs.

Temeculaguy was right that the oddball existing houses and residential junkyards had to lower prices radically to sell. The transition often involves the property changing hands to the lender as the price dropped. The old owners just were not strong enough to handle the MEW. I think the people buying these are getting a better deal than if they bought raw land.They get mature trees, electricity, access, a well or meter, maybe a decent septic system or sewer connection for free.They also get a low tax base on the existing square footage of dwelling space if they rehab it. This is especially good for people who want the land for reasons other than having a McMansion on it. Even better if they can do the work themselves. Some of these properties exist in areas where much nicer homes are filling in the landscape.This makes for a perfect worst house/best neighborhood scenario that many people see an advantage in.