San Diego Voted Best Area for Long-Term Real Estate

Despite the housing crisis, San Diego was recently named one of the best areas in the nation for long-term real estate. Specifically mentioned were the Carlsbad and San Marcos areas of North County. San Diego, Carlsbad and San Marcos were placed together and voted number 12 of 26 metropolitan areas. The study by the National Association of Realtors, with contributions from Bloomberg’s BusinessWeek, focused on long-term goals, and found that historically homes increase in value over time. Other recent articles have predicted San Diego will be one of the first markets to recover and normalize.

According to the NAR study housing prices have risen about 5.5% yearly since 1968. Despite the 2000-2006 housing boom (when according to Moodys.com prices rose almost 90%), this still holds true. The study sited down markets–such as the current one–as the best times to be purchasing to meet long-term goals. Long term is considered to be at least five years.

The NAR study expects 2011 to be the beginning of normalization in the real estate market. As long as mortgage interest rates stay around 5% sales volume is expected to rise 6% year-on-year, according to NAR’s Chief Ecomomist Lawrence Yun. This is great news for buyers.

If you are considering purchasing property with long-term goals, now is a great time to buy in San Diego county. Feel free to call or email me with any questions. If you are interested in viewing live market data for the North County area, please visit my website at http://www.LaMarRealEstate.org, and click on the “Live Market Data” link at the top of the page. These statistics are updated weekly.