[quote=flu]Maybe there are some people can actually afford homes here, even at current prices. That said, I don’t know why you have an ax to grind with the (un)affordability and prices in parts of SD. Maybe people actually want to live in some of the lizard land places, and maybe some people dont’ mind paying more and even can stretch to afford it. And looking at it, you and many others were just plain wrong about expecting a 40-50+% correction around here. It never happened, to your disappointment. Maybe 20-25% at worst, but it’s close to peak and in many cases above peak. Anyone that held out all this time did just fine, and in some cases even better once they refi’d. Not that I’m particularly happy about it because it’s just one more dis-incentive to move to a bigger place…[/quote]
Thanks for your comments, flu. I frankly have never looked at any listings in CV unless someone posted them here. I had no idea that there were listings up to $4.5M in Carmel Valley! Based upon the links of listings I’ve viewed here, CV seems way too dense to have “luxury” listings in the multimillion-dollar range!
I’m actually not “one of those” people who believes that SD housing is unaffordable or “overpriced.” Actually, I think there are several areas in the county which are still undervalued. And I’ve never posted that Carmel Valley is situated in “Lizardland.” It is not. However, it cannot be compared to Encinitas, which is on the coast and boasts many custom homes. CV and Encinitas (much moreso west of I-5) are two completely different animals, imho, and likely cater to two completely different buyer-demographics.
Believe me, I DO remember when “North City West” was first developed and advertised its first one-story home plan for $168K.
I don’t have a personal problem with Carmel Valley today as it has never really been in my sphere but have always wondered what the “draw” to CV was. The subdivisions developed there since about ’98-’00 became just completely devoid of character as the developers continued to squeeze as many SF as they could on mostly 4500 to 6500 sf parcels. (This isn’t the only area like this in SD but it is undoubtedly the most expensive). Carmel Valley is now VERY expensive for what a buyer actually gets there compared to older, more established communities for the same price or less and without HOA dues and MR.
For example, my (very real) description of a circa 1976 ranch home in SD with great bones as I referred to in this thread:
My gosh, for $800K to $1M, one can still buy a “cosmetic fixer” with a possible ocean view IF you can still find one! A home on a 7500 – 23,000 sf lot (more than 1 AC in parts of east county). These homes might have authentic river rock front porch surround; possible mahogany or redwood built-ins and FP; giant rock floor-to-ceiling FP with a 2′ high hearth; mahogany pocket-door room dividers; old brick pizza oven; built in bread box and/or spice grinder; authentic American Standard pastel tile; stained and leaded glass windows; even cantilevered ceilings (think LM, Bonita, etc). The list goes on. Of course, not all these features are in the same house but I’m sure you’re aware that there is so much out there to choose from in the $1M price range!
In comparing a CV “econobox” priced at $1M++ to a comparably-priced “character” or “period” home which sits on a larger (even much larger) parcel elsewhere in the county, I just fail to see the reason for the tremendous interest in the former. In my mind, there isn’t any comparison whatsover. The latter is so much more liveable for the long term.
Maybe it’s just easier today to buy an econobox due to ease of financing and not having to shop around for months (or even a year +) to find just the right “character” home.
Thank you, joec, for introducing me to the term, “econobox.” It’s very fitting for most of the listings discussed here.
