Just want to say that we finally bit the bullet and bought a SFH in the Carmel Valley area that we were previously looking in the past 9-month.
Overall market action has been really slow as we watched so I’m not 100% sure this is the best time to buy. We locked in at 4.875% with 0-point once the offer was accepted.
We bought in the area bordering Torrey Hills and Carmel Country Highland. Overall the area didn’t really depreciate that much (as we hoped) since 2007…maybe 10~20% at its best. A lot of homes that were selling for cheaper (<$300~$350/sqft or even selling in the high 200s/sqft) have some fundamental problems that we don't like. So I figured if we are picky (not backing into major street, no powerline in sight, good orientation, i.e. north/south facing, with living space facing south), it's really hard to get a "steal." Anyways, I think we paid about market price ($351/sqft) for this period. Not sure if overall market will deteriote more to in the low $300s/sqft range. But We really like the house and it's got everything on my wish-list. So we're happy.
Thanks to those who provided so much of your valuable advice on house purchase. I've been monitoring this site since 2007/2008 and was hoping a greater reduction in price in CV. However, I think due to its good school district and the overall area quality, I couldn't expect to see the 30%~50% drop that I want to see for my purchase. I expect to see maybe incremental declines or flat in the next 1~3-years...but I doublt if housing market will stay flat for another 5~10 years.
lepetit
