sdr: In the rarefied world of Carlsbad and its environs in which you circulate, you are avoiding the picture of greater San Diego, and CA in general. You brag that your tiny slice of San Diego is going up in price, but what about the other 95% or so of San Diego? And what kind of physical house does one get for that $1,432,500 in Carlsbad? Perhaps the same structure that goes for half that here. An ocean view there (rare) will add to that price. Here mountain and red canyon views are a given with any luxury house. Add in the property tax at about 1% of value (mine), utility costs 1/3 of yours, and vastly better schools as measured by all the metrics of student achievement. Been to downtown San Diego lately? Ours is hopping with restaurants, theatres, students from our growing university, and tourists. Zion is a half-hour away, Brian Head for skiers about 3 hours away, Vegas under two hours away. And for ethnic foods, we have all sorts, with about ten Thai restaurants just for sdr to try.
The US is increasingly stratified by income, so the income-elite can afford Carlsbad, and I’m sure it gives them bragging rights with their friends and relatives nationwide. St. George…not so much. But for the other 95% of the population–the ones moving here from CA and San Diego, we will continue to get the influx, as will other similar locations.
You mention we have had 3.5% home appreciation in the last 3 or so years. This ignores the MIX of housing, since we have a lot of condos going up, and perhaps smaller houses which distorts the picture. And yes, the more than doubling in mortgage rates have hurt recent sales prices. Speaking only for myself, Zillow puts my house at $825,000 vs the $550,000 I paid for it 3 years ago. Probably falling lately due to mortgage rates.
