[quote=deadzone]You are naïve if you think these majority cash buyers are going to keep coming out of the woodworks forever. Perhaps their money source(s) could dry up as housing becomes less appealing (which it already is at current prices) or the economy turns south. If/when interest rates rise, investors will flee real estate like yesterday’s news.[/quote]deadzone, if SD County residential property begins to become “less appealing” to end users, this will happen in inland areas (over 15 miles from the coast). It may never happen in close in and coastal areas, IMO, especially those areas on the west side of I-5.
As far as investors, I don’t believe they will flee ANY areas of the county including inland areas or low income areas (or both). Mortgage interest rates have nothing to do with it as the vast majority pay all cash for residential properties. If a flipper purchased a property in an inland (and/or low income area where there are far less all-cash end-user buyers) with the intent to flip it and mtg interest rates rise so quickly that they can’t easily flip it to an end user, they will simply rent it out until a seller’s market presents itself again.