Right now, there are a measly 195 active listings in downtown San Diego.  This is the lowest amount of downtown San Diego condos for sale I’ve ever seen.  Downtown, the busiest price point is $400K(or so) and below.  Right now, there are 65 active listings and 59 pending condos, priced at $400K or below.  In the last 90 days, there have been 98 sales(actual closings) with a list price of $400K or below.  Let me say that again – 98 sales in 90 days and there are only 65 active listings.  There were 22 more sales in the same time period, between $400k-500K.  Clearly, if you are thinking of selling your place and it’s around the $400K price or less, you need to list it now.  Don’t wait until next year when all the “first time” buyers and investors have already purchased what they needed.  Do it now, when there are multiple offers on short market times.

Going up in price point, there are 41 active listings between $500-750K.  There are only 9 pending condos and only 26 sold in this price range over the last 90 days.  This is a slower price point, but not bad (it just looks slow because the sub-$400K range is so active).  There are only 9 pending sales in this range.

Moving on up, there are 23 active listings for condos priced between $1-2M.  There are 7 pending sales and surprisingly, there were 23 sales in the last six months.  Above $2M, there are only 9 active listings, zero in escrow, but four have sold in the last six months.

Overall, the market seems to be doing pretty well.  Yes, prices may come down a bit more, but there are plenty of “experts” who will argue either side.  Alan Nevin seems to think that we’ve already passed the bottom.  I guess my point is that, if you plan on selling your place sometime in the next few years, you should think long and hard as to why you shouldn’t do it now.  If you have any questions, comments, jokes, etc…feel free to email me at denny@sandiegoh.com or call me at 858-243-2092.  Or you can post a comment below.

If you want me to give you a better idea of what your home might be worth, get in touch with me via one of the methods above.  And I promise, I won’t harass you to list with me, or spam you.  Thanks.

Denny Oh 858-243-2092 denny@sandiegoh.com

12 sales, out of a total of 186 condos in the building – I think this is a pretty typical amount of sales, “healthy” being around 7% on average(at least that seems to be about the average for downtown highrises over the years).  The average $/sq.ft. was just below $600/sq.ft. and the average sales price was about 9% below the list price.  In my opinion, this last statistic reflects some rather ambitious sellers, who clearly were hoping for more money, but eventually came to terms with reality(not to mention their the eager listing agents who gladly took overpriced listings, hoping to grind down the price over time).

The average market time was 96 days, which really isn’t too bad for a “high-end” building.  Downtown San Diego’s Pinnacle condos continue to be an obvious choice for many condo buyers.  The central location, high ceilings, incredible views and contemporary design seem to be the main attractions for the Pinnacle.  Other features, such as powder rooms(i.e. 2.5 Ba vs. 2Ba), additional parking (several owners have purchased more than the “normal” number of parking spaces) and even insta-hot water taps have played part in wooing other buyers.

At the end of the day, each building/location has its pros and cons.  Some buildings are too old.  Others are too stuffy.  Some are too cold.  They key to check out several different options and see what works best for you. If nothing else, looking at a building you think you won’t like, will just confirm what you already know and make you more confident in your decision. Look at the same properties on different days and times(weekends vs. weekdays, AM vs. PM, etc), walk around the area to get a better understanding of what’s nearby and figure out what suits you the most.  If you have any questions about the Pinncle, or any San Diego real estate, please contact me at 858-243-2092 or denny@sandiegoh.com.

Most of these homes were located in Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla and in Coronado – no surprise there – with a few others in Del Mar and other coastal neighborhoods. The biggest surprise to me was that only 5 of these were completed with a loan. In other words, over 81% of San Diego’s most expensive home purchases were done with cash. With a total sales volume of almost $181,000,000, this is a lot of cash that people are investing in real estate.

The most expensive sale in 2011, was a $12M home in the La Jolla Muirlands.  This 12,203 sqft “home” has 7 bedrooms, 11 full baths and 3 half baths.  It also has “2 offices, a theatre, game room, wine cellar, exercise room, 9 fireplaces, garages for up to 7 cars, expansive patios, and an infinity edge pool & spa,” according to the listing.  The most expensive sale in terms of price per square foot, was for a Del Mar home that sold for $3463/sqft. This home was a 2Br/3Ba, 1660 sqft home.

In 2010, there were a total of 32 sales in San Diego County, with a price of $5M or more.  The highest sales price in 2010 was $10,500,000, for a 4Br/4.5Ba, 6315 sqft oceanfront home in Coronado. However, at $4506/sqft, a 1731 sqft 3Br/2Ba home, also in Coronado, took the title for the most expensive home – location, location, location! The lowest $/sqft was for a 16,281 sqft, 8 bedroom, 9 full bath and 5 half bath home in Fairbanks Ranch, selling for $368/sqft.

Year over year, 2011 had 5 less sales(15%) than 2010, which amounted to more than $95M in home sales.  Does this mean that people are losing faith in San Diego’s real estate market?  Doubtful.  At the higher price points, people tend to buy upon desire and not so much as an investment.  Homes are worth what someone is willing to pay and this is most evident at these higher price points.  After all, how do you comp(find comparable sales) for a 12,000 sqft mansion in Fairbanks Ranch?

Land is scarce in San Diego and it’s clear that people are willing to pay for a view and/or location.  Markets will rise and fall, but in the end, there’s only one San Diego and clearly, people are willing to pay for it.  If you have any questions about SD real estate, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  Denny Oh 858-243-2092 denny@sandiegoh.com

With approximately 80 sales a month, downtown San Diego is an active market.  If you’re waiting to list your home after the holidays, I’m pretty sure there are dozens of other people who are waiting to do the same.  If you want to get top dollar, list your home immediately.  Why wait until everyone else gets in the race? Call me today to set up a free consultation.

Denny Oh 858-243-2092 denny@sandiegoh.com

Again, these statistics only take into account what’s on the MLS.  Many developers never list sales on the MLS and can only be considered if you pull up tax records and spend a lot of time charting them.

The majority of downtown San Diego’s condos sales this year were at the lower price points.  There have been 667 condos(77% of all 92101 sales) that sold this year(to date), with a sales price of $500K or less. This makes sense as most people are taking advantage of the low prices and low interest rates – there aren’t a ton of “move up” buyers(i.e., people who sell the $400K homes and move up to a $500-600K home) since they probably don’t have any equity in their homes.

Another 169 sales in 2011 were between $501K-1M, the majority selling for less than $700K.  What was interesting to me though, was that there were still a fair amount if high end sales this year.  Downtown San Diego had 15 condos sell for more than $1.5M and 10 of those sales were for more than $2M.  Many of these sales were penthouse condos in the newer buildings like Bosa’s Bayside and the Sapphire Tower. The most expensive condo sale this year was condo #2004 at The Renaissance(which is almost done with the repairs from the litigation settlement), which recently sold for $3M.

I still believe that downtown San Diego is one of the best places you can buy in San Diego and we’re going to see a great deal of appreciation in the future(just not the near future).  Businesses will migrate downtown and people will follow. If you have any doubt, just think about how companies operate and how all storage space is going offsite or into a cloud.  Businesses don’t need as much physical space per employee and I can guarantee that the bay view from a 20th floor downtown office is much better than the 2nd story view you of the parking lot you have now in Rancho Bernardo or Sorrento Valley.  If you’re still not convinced, just look at San Fransisco or Seattle. Look at the future of gas prices.

One day, downtown San Diego will be a true downtown and home prices will be a lot higher than they are now.  When do you want to invest?

Denny Oh 858-243-2092 denny@sandiegoh.com

There have been nine sales in 2011 YTD at Park Place, which had an average sales price of just over $630K. What’s interesting about the recent activity at Park Place, is that there have been a lot of ’03 units come onto the market recently.  Condo 2503 sold for $730K a little over a month ago and now 1803 and 2103 are both in escrow.  Additionally, 1903 is an active listing at Park Place.  For those of you who didn’t click on the link above, ’03 units at Park Place have great, unobstructed bay views and are very popular.  FYI – some people have taken out the fireplace, making a more open floor plan.

In the same time frame of 2010, there were five sales at Park Place – 44% less than this year(to date)! Also, the average sales price for this time period last year was only $570K, versus $630K this year. Does this mean that downtown San Diego’s real estate market is picking up?!  It’s tough to say.  Last year(again, during the same time frame – 1/1/11-11/8/11) there were 781 sales in the 92101 zip code and this year, there have been 822 sales – 5% more sales this year. The average price per square foot was also up in 2011, by over 14%.  However, as I mentioned in my post about the Bayside and Sapphire Tower condo sales, price per square foot and other statistics are not always as revealing as they seem.

If you’re interested in buying or selling at Park Place, or any other San Diego real estate, please contact Denny Oh at 858-243-2092 or denny@sandiegoh.com.

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Additionally, it depends on what, where and when they’re buying/selling. Some prices points are busier than others and some markets are hotter than others.  Generally speaking, entry level homes are selling quickly and the higher end markets are slower.  For downtown real estate, having the only “X” floor plan on the market(or the only one with a protected view) will definitely help bring a higher price.

Looking at the two newest downtown San Diego condo highrises, Bayside by Bosa and The Sapphire Tower, it looks like a lot of people have faith in the downtown market.  Bayside at the Embarcadero sold 34 condos in the first three quarters of 2011.  12 of these sales were above the $1M range and five of those 12 were for more than $2m.

On average, condos at Bayside sold for about 13% less than the asking price.  However, this is mainly because the developer kept it’s prices high to give the buyer a large discount – probably a strategy to make the buyer think he/she was getting a good deal. The average $/sq.ft. was about $565/sq.ft. and the average sales price was just under $1.1M - not bad for a “bad market.”

DOM, which stands for Days on Market, isn’t something I really look at in new homes sales.  This is because the figures are often skewed, since developers don’t put all their condos on the MLS/market at the same time.  In other words, the true DOM would be more like 2 years since the building was completed in 2009.  I also look at $/sq.ft. with a grain of salt since certain floor plans have much better views than others(which are reflected in their price), or being only a few floors higher(even in the same floor plan) can drastically improve/worsen a view.  Looking at comps without knowing the true details doesn’t always paint a clear picture(read: please let me be your agent and help you!).

Currently, there are 16 active listings at Bayside and only a couple Bosa units left.

Moving on to the other “new” highrise in San Diego, we have Sapphire Tower. Sapphire Tower is a much smaller building than Bayside.  With only 97 condos, versus the 232 at Bayside, Sapphire Tower has/had much less inventory to sell.  In the same first three quarters of 2011, there were 17 sales at Sapphire Tower. The average sales price was lower than Bayside’s at about $855,000, but was only 6% below the average asking price.  In terms of price per square foot, Sapphire Tower’s recent sales had an average of $519/sq.ft. – about 9% lower than Bayside.

Right now, there are  14 condos  for sale at Sapphire Tower(only 10 of which are on the MLS).  The average list price of those on the MLS is right around $1.3M.

Based on 92101′s YTD sales, I think we’re in a fairly healthy market.  With 821 downtown San Diego condo sales this year, we’re looking at approximately 80 sales a month.  And with only 264 active listings downtown, I’d say that’s not too bad of a picture.  Banks seem to be moving quicker with short sales(especially Chase)

If you’re looking to buy or sell real estate in San Diego, please contact Denny Oh for more information.   Just give me a call or shoot me an email.

Denny Oh 858-243-2092 denny@sandiegoh.com

As of July 13th, 2011, there are a total of 32 active listings priced below $200K. Of those, 10 are at the Hard Rock Hotel and you can’t live in them.  The average list price is $178,172 and the average size is 575sqft.

Currently, there are 22 downtown San Diego condos in escrow(with a list price of $200K or less).  And over the last 6 months, there have been 66 sales where the list price was below $200K.  So at an average of 11 sales per month, there’s a 3 month supply of condos for $200K or less.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are 13 downtown San Diego condos that have a list price of $2M or more – the highest price is $5.5M for a 4170 sqft condo on the 38th floor at the Harbor Club. The average list price is just over $3.1M and the average size is 3,164 sqft(who said you can’t have a large downtown home?!).

There are two condos currently in escrow that have a list price over $2M and they’re both at Sapphire Tower.  Additionally, there have been eight $2M+ sales in the last 12 months downtown, giving us a little less than 9 months supply of higher end condos.

With a total of only 304 active listings downtown(at all prices) and 490 sales in the last 6 months, there’s less than 4 months worth of inventory.  If you can sell, I’d strongly suggest you do it now.  I promise you, waiting for interest rates to go up, will not help.  If you would like a free evaluation of your homes value, please call me at 858-243-2092.  Talk to you soon.

Denny Oh 858-243-2092 denny@sandiegoh.com

If you want to buy, you probably should.  If you can’t afford to buy, you should probably wait.  Aside from that, I’ll tell you what I think, but there are no guarantees!  Yes prices are down and yes there’s more activity.  Interest rates are incredibly low(not for much longer) and deals are being made.  So in a nutshell, yes, you should probably be buying right now(if it makes sense to you).

The Grande at Santa Fe – in the first quarter of 2011, there were 10 condo sales between the Grande North(1205 Pacific Hwy) and South(1199 Pacific Hwy) towers.  The average sales price was $600,480 and the average market time was 193 days.  In 2010, there were 8 condo sales at The Grande, with an average of 28 days on the market. Q1 of 2010 at The Grande had an average sales price of $686,875.

Downtown San Diego as a whole, had 225 condo sales in the first quarter of 2011 – up about 14.8% from 2010′s Q1 sales figure of 196 condos.  The average condo sales price for 2011′s Q1 in 92101 was $417,918, up about 2.2% from 2010′s $409,023 average condo sales price.

All of the statistics in this post are strictly from the MLS – they do not include all new condo sales.  With that said, most of the new developer condos have been sold and as we all know, nothing is currently under construction.  I think we’re going to see downtown San Diego condo prices start to slowly rise over the next several years as demand picks up.

I think we’ll also see a shift in where people live and work.  As gas prices rise and the ability for companies to work in smaller spaces(we no longer needs tons of space for filing cabinets since we can use servers, etc), I think we’ll see more business relocate to downtown.  This will ultimately(in addition to the lack of space) be the cause of increasing condo prices in downtown San Diego.  If you’re interested in San Diego real estate or have any questions, please let me know.

Click here to see what’s for sale at The Grande condos

Click here to see more downtown San Diego real estate statistics.