Again, I don’t agree with shoveler on this issue. SD County has no housing shortage. There are plenty of current available rental units and for-sale listings all over the county. In the case of NCC, it’s always been the same (esp west of I-5). There are too many deep-pocketed all-cash and huge-downpayment purchasers from all over the country and world who are making offers along the coast. This makes it impossible for Joe and Jane 6p worker-bee (who need large mortgages) to compete with them and this will never change. This is true along the entire coast of the state (within 5 miles). Too many 1st and 2nd time homebuyers who need large mortgages in order to consummate a deal are attempting to gravitate their search towards the coast when, in reality, it isn’t “their turn,” yet. That’s the way it’s always been, except in decades past, there weren’t all the subdivisions there are now within 5 miles of the coast (ex: NCC). The vast majority of boomers didn’t buy their 1st (or 2nd or even 3rd) homes along the coast (west of I-5 in SD).

Again, I feel that today’s 1st and 2nd time homebuyers in SD have wildly unrealistic expectations. If they would shop in areas they can actually afford, they would much more easily find homes which suit their families’ needs in which they can realistically get their offer accepted. Many (most) of them find that distasteful, hence they are still renters as sold prices (slowly or more rapidly, depending on zip code/micro area) inch up into the stratosphere.

I find this phenomenon kind of strange because Gen Y’s “brethren” shopping for a home in LA, Ventura, OC, SF, and other bay area counties are willing to be more realistic and make offers on what is available in their price range. Not so in SD. SD 1st and 2nd time homebuyers want it all right now! I feel the only way this collective mindset will ever correct itself is if SD County becomes more like those other CA urban coastal counties …. that is, the dearth of inventory is so pronounced everywhere that they have no choice but to face reality and shop where they can afford, rent indefinitely or leave.

Not sure how long this is all going to take because SD city and county officials have sold its longtime constituencies’ lifestyles down the river for well over 20 years now by approving wa-a-a-ay too many subdivisions all over the county. This didn’t happen in the above counties (except Alameda, but to a much lesser degree than SD County).