I picked a bad example – downtown and Temecula are too far apart for comparison
A better example in this case would be the apartments down the freeway
Let’s say I can rent a 2 bdrm close to work for $1600 and the apartment down the freeway is only $1425 – it is a personal decision whether the drive is worth $175/month
But then the economy takes a turn and the apartment down the freeway lowers rents to $1300 and offers first month’s rent for free with a 1 year lease
Now the equation has changed – there will be some people who are willing to drive for $300/mo savings but wouldn’t do the drive for $175 – the demand for the $1600 apartment has been reduced by factors OUTSIDE of the area of interest
And that is my main point (although I haven’t stated it explicitly) – there are numerous changes happening right now in San Diego that are likely to significantly change rental rates and purchase prices – making a buy decision based on current rental rates is not the most prudent course of action IMO – if you really have to buy right now it should be an absolute steal (like $100K for a $200K condo)
