I fully expect Downtown San Diego to be a place of mostly renters with a minority of high-end homeowners.
Right now, Downtown is a “premium” place to live. But give it a few years for those apartments/condos to get old and dirty.
People who grew up in the suburbs think that Downtown living is glamourous (it can be if you’ve got the money) but they’ll soon realize otherwise — especially if they spend all their money on housing.
The suburban lifestyle is very pervasive and people will get married, or have children (within or outside of marriage), then they’ll move. People will get old and fat and I’ll need that SUV with room to park so they can easily unload their Costco purchases.
In a boom, it makes sense to buy Downtown, but even with a stable market, it takes 5 years to break even on the transaction costs. Once people start telling each other that buying is a losing proposition, then prices won’t recover.
Downtown is barely 5 years old and it’s still a work in progress. People wanted in on the grown floor. But like Amway, only a few prosper.
Downtown SD is not Manhattan, people have lots of choices. Except for banking and law firms, Downtown doesn’t even have job. Most residents there have to commute out of Downtown.
