San Diego California Real Estate Home Values About to Drop

The good news is that San Diego home prices have increased for the past eleven months in a row. A positive outlook would suggest that the real estate decline bottomed in April 2009 and that housing prices will continue with, at least, modest appreciation.

Recently a local news headline noted San Diego home price appreciation outpaced the rest of the nation. Another headline stated that San Diego County house prices rose 11.7% in April 2010, as compared to April 2009. This was said to be the fastest rate of annual appreciation increase in the nation. Plus, San Diego County home prices have been rebounding for the past year after their 40% decline from the top of the market in 2005.

In light of the above news, one would be hard-pressed not to agree with the consensus opinion that the bottom has been reached in the San Diego real estate market; the current recovery seems to be outpacing the national averages.

In 2005, I wrote an article entitled “A trend to go national” where I predicted that the trends I saw occurring in our local housing market, which defined classic irrational exuberance, were not only about to take down the local market, but I believed, would affect the entire nation. I was not alone in raising the caution flags about the real estate market, and those who were caught up in the exuberance of the market as well as many media outlets, coined the term bubblehead to myself and others, to imply a certain foolishness to those who would speak out against such a powerful and (certain to be) continued annual double-digit home appreciation.

It was difficult to raise the caution flags in 2005. The San Diego real estate market from 2000 to 2005 appreciated on average approximately 20% per year. Until the summer of 2005, when the sales volume started to fall but the prices were still appreciating, there weren’t obvious signs of pending trouble, especially to the layperson. Most did not foresee a market collapse. Even in the latter part of 2005, while the slowing market became quite evident, the conventional consensus of opinion was that it was just a normal pullback. Most optimistic outlooks touted a strong market and a great opportunity for many to purchase real estate in San Diego before the upswing resumed.

Now it is July of 2010. Similar though different, market conditions make it again difficult to go against the conventional trend which is stating that a bottom has been put in place and we are on an upward rebound. I recently attended a seminar by a prominent real estate economist who forecast a slow but steady rise in local home values. His charts and facts presented at the seminar were quite impressive. Not being a real estate agent or broker “in the trenches,” I believe his data was not reflecting the most current conditions, especially after the expiration of the federal tax credits.

It’s hard to say exactly what effect the $8000 federal tax credit for home buyers had on the real estate market. Personally I believe it to be very similar to the government’s cash for clunkers program, whereby, it pulled buyers from future months into the current program. The result was an increase in the actual housing demand and values for people trying to get in before the credit expired. When the cash for clunkers program ended, auto sales took a nose dive for a number of months before finally stabilizing.

The federal $8000 credit ended on April 30, 2010. If you had a property in escrow on or before April 30, and closed it before the end of June (now extended through September) you would be eligible for the credit if you qualified. The housing figures now being reported reflect this activity created by the $8000 credit. As long as the property went into escrow by April 30, sales could close in May and June which still affects housing numbers. Housing sales reports are usually closed sales and unlike the stock market, it takes some time for a property to go through escrow.

The first housing numbers to be reported, that don’t reflect as much of the effect of the government’s $8000 tax credit will be sales for July, reported during August. California instituted its own tax credit which went into effect on May 1, 2010. Only 100 million was allocated for this and the California franchise tax Board reported that as of June 15, 80% of this amount had been allocated.

One could speculate that the current slowdown I’ve seen in San Diego neighborhoods would not be reflected in reports for closed sales until August. On July 1, the national Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes dropped 30% in May from April. For the Western states this drop was reported as 20.9%. Though the West obviously was doing better than the rest of the country, the huge double-digit declines are a major red flag that cannot be ignored.

Don’t be fooled by the media talking heads’ effervescent housing recovery rhetoric. Keep in mind that many of their sponsors and advertisers are from real estate related industries. Plus, many of the same media talking heads were the same folks who stated there was no real estate bubble and any slowdown was an opportunity to jump into the market in the summer of 2005.

As an active San Diego California real estate broker I could see a marked decline in real estate activity, in many local areas, right after the April 30 federal tax credit expiration. Homes listed for sale that just a few weeks earlier would’ve gotten multiple showings in one week, are now lucky to be shown once a week. Indications from local escrow companies and from a major San Diego mortgage company indicate that this slowing trend is significant and widespread throughout San Diego County.

What’s really troubling, is that the government tax credit was not enough to jumpstart our local housing market. Plus, the fact that this new downturn has started in the seasonally adjusted hottest marketing timeframe, coupled with historically low home mortgage interest rates, would indicate that as we approach Fall and Winter, this trend could easily accelerate and in a real real estate market bottom in late 2011 or 2012.

San Diego is the third most real estate dependent area in the country (with Orlando and Miami being the first and second respectively) the general San Diego economy should also experience a double-dip until the real housing market bottom is in place.

San Diego Real Estate Market Brimming With Luxury

A beautiful city filled with excitement, San Diego is located in the Southern section of California. Known for its beaches, culture, and stunning real estate, San Diego has been celebrated as America’s Finest City. Those hoping to invest in San Diego real estate can rest assured that their initial purchase will supply many rewards. With a strong economy and booming real estate market, San Diego is on a financial high. Despite the national housing slump purchasing a piece of San Diego real estate remains an extremely smart decision.

Nature Supplies Numerous Benefits to San Diego Real Estate

With 70 miles of gorgeous coastal area, and an almost perfect climate, San Diego owes much of its prestige to nature. With warm, sunny weather throughout the year, outdoor activities have become prominent in San Diego. Some of these activities include, water sports such as surfing, fishing, and swimming, professional sports, annual festivals and community fairs, and numerous hometown parades. Because of the close distance to the Pacific Ocean, San Diego is also known for topnotch produce production.

San Diego Real Estate Filled with Extravagant Homes

San Diego real estate has an extensive selection of housing options available to potential home buyers. The San Diego real estate market offers apartments, condos, charming oceanfront cottages and bungalows, and of course, the luxury estate. An exciting city with much to offer, the homes of San Diego can satisfy any real estate elitist.

The city of San Diego has a population of almost 1.3 million residents, while countywide, the number reaches a staggering 2.8 million residents. Many experts project that as the population continues to expand in the area, the San Diego real estate market will remain prosperous. San Diego real estate prices widely vary with listings ranging from $450,000 to more than $12 million. San Diego real estate demands a higher price depending not only on the elegance of the home, but also the quality of the neighborhood and strength of local housing markets.

San Diego Real Estate Offers Several Popular Landmarks

San Diego real estate is surrounded by culture, history, and tons of entertainment. A section of San Diego named Old Town is known as the largest free tourist spot in California. This famed attraction details the history of San Diego and California. Located near downtown San Diego, and scattered over more than 13 acres, Old Town displays the culture of San Diego’s Spanish influence through restaurants and museums.

San Diego real estate featured in the downtown area includes restaurants, theaters, hotels, and a baseball stadium. Downtown San Diego also provides transportation by way of trains, planes, buses, trolleys, and boats. The heart of the business side of San Diego, the downtown area is home to several businesses. Whatever section of San Diego you are visiting, it is sure to be a trip you will never forget.

There Are Many Advantages to Doing Business Using Online Auction Services

The combination of carrying out procurement of services and raw materials or inviting bids for contracts using online auction software and cloud computing has many advantages for both buyer and bidder.

The first is security if the organization uses an experienced and reputable provider of an online auction service. All documents that are generated by the tendering or bidding process can be stored securely in one location and accessed easily and efficiently with no risk of loss of an important document at a crucial stage in the negotiations.

Then there is the saving in time. Access to an online auction is available around the clock allowing bidders to place their bids at any time of the day or night within the time frame that has been set by the buyer.

Location, too, ceases to be an issue and a contract bid can be invited or submitted from anywhere in the world.

This may be useful for companies offering goods and services to consumers, who can bid online to buy a particular product and it enables the supplier to sell to a greater volume of customers than it could in a physical space such as a retail unit.

It also illustrates the added benefits of online auctions which are increased efficiency and a saving in cost, both staff time and if the service is provided by cloud computing also in the expense of in-house sophisticated hardware and back-up. With cloud hosting an organization only needs to buy the time it actually needs to use and tailor it to peaks or troughs of activity.

However, online auction software is most useful for procurement of services or inviting contract bids for large companies and public sector organizations. Companies supplying the online auction service to organizations like these invariably also offer a variety of auctions including the increasingly popular reverse auction that can help them to get the best price on a contract, but also additional consultancy services such as a spend analysis.

An experienced software supplier will also supply support services to help large organizations through the initial processes of internal culture change, training and set up of the system and will be able to tailor it to the specific activities of the organization It is supplying.

Switching to an online auction system needs to be managed properly during the transition but once the key people are properly familiar with the system and how to manage it organizations will notice a marked difference in the safety, security and efficiency of their procurement and contract bidding processes and a significant saving on costs.