From what you describe, you enjoy the perks of an ‘urban’ lifestyle. I say urban in the sense that you do not get in a car every time you need a gallon of milk, a cup of sugar, want to grab a sandwich or a beer. I grew up in north county and can tell you that there are very few places where you would find a similar lifestyle. Del Mar, Encinitas, Leucadia, Carlsbad and Oceanside. The catch is that you MUST be west of 5 or you way as well be living in Mira Mesa or Poway. I too prize the ability of parking my car on Friday and not getting back into it until Monday morning, but I think that you will have a hard time finding anything in Encinitas for less money than you would in PB. PB has always been known as one of the best values in beach front real estate in SD after OB. Unless you want to load your bikes into your truck and drive them down to the beach.
As for the stability of the PB real estate market, I respectfully disagree with anyone who thinks that the market will hold values through the coming cycle. If anything, I feel the PB market will get hit proportionally harder than some of the other areas due to the demographic of purchasers that the PB market attracted… 1st time buyers with that were previously renting in the area that want to be able to get their kayak to the bay, their surfboard to the beach and their Schwinn cruiser to the Liars Club without getting in a car. I watched these people, and people just like them rush in and buy these ex-rental POS houses for top dollar under the “I’ll be priced out forever” clause when their landlord stuck the for sale sign in the front yard, and many/most got in WAY over their heads.
The same happened up in North Park/Kensington/Normal Heights. That demographic was the young hipster with his BSA or old moto guzzi hanging out at Lancers/Live Wire/Red Fox Room, Alibi etc. The disaster has already started up there because of the relative stability of the purchasers.
Pacific Beach will have its day. Now if you are holding your breath for a 50 cents on the dollar deal up on Mt. Soledad, or over by Tourmaline you may be waiting a while, but if you want your beach cottage on beryl there will be screaming deals to be had… just like the last time… and the time before that… and the time before that…
