During the first quarter of 2009, the real estate market in Point Loma, Ocean Beach and Old Town was showing signs of positive trending. In March, the San Diego Association of REALTORS® (SDAR) reported that for all three communities the median sales price was actually higher than it had been in March of 2008, and that the median pricing had been trending upwards from month to month. At the time, this was in stark contrast to the rest of the county, which was experiencing declining median numbers. Now, San Diego County is in its third consecutive month at an increased median sales price and it is clear that the county’s real estate numbers are trending positively, a welcome change for many. On the contrary, the numbers of our three communities have been fluctuating greatly, making trends in this area much more ambivalent. When you look at the numbers from the last six months in Point Loma, Ocean Beach and Old Town, it is clear that these communities remain unique when it comes to real estate trends. For example, median pricing for attached properties (e.g., condos and townhomes) in Point Loma has ranged from as high as $1,012,500 in March to as low as $280,000 in the span of one month. When Point Loma was at its highest in March, the rest of San Diego was experiencing an all-time low. Ocean Beach and Old Town’s median numbers also differed from county trends. The median sales price for detached properties in OB hit its lowest in May at $551,000, while the rest of the county was in its second consecutive month at an increased median price. Similarly, Old Town experienced its lowest median sales price hit in January at $450,000, which for most communities was the month with the highest median price. The median pricing is not the only way in which these three communities are differing from countywide trends. While number of sold listings in these communities have been a bit more consistent on a monthly basis, these numbers continue to be much lower than other communities in the county. In Point Loma the average number of sold homes and condos per month was eight and three, respectively. This is substantially lower than the county averages which were 19 and 10, respectively. And while there are some communities that have already sold more than 415 properties in 2009, Point Loma has only sold a total of 67 properties, attached and detached combined. Ocean Beach and Old Town have been seeing similar numbers in sold listings as those in Point Loma, but these ZIP codes are averaging slightly less for sold homes and slightly more for sold condos and townhomes. OB is still far under the county monthly averages and has only sold 68 properties year to date. Old Town, on the other hand, has sold substantially more properties and is at 94 sold listings year to date. However, the majority of these sold listings are from attached properties, of which they are selling an average of ten per month. It is worth pointing out that for homes in Point Loma and Ocean Beach, the months with the highest number of sold listings corresponded with the lowest median sales price. However, in Old Town, and many other ZIP codes across the county, it appears that price has become less of a factor. In fact, for attached properties in Old Town, the month with the highest median price was also the month with the highest number of sold listings. It’s possible that the focus has been shifted away from price as a result of the public taking advantage of the overall lower prices to allow them to purchase a home based on community or design, rather than a solely financial decision. It is likely that Point Loma, Ocean Beach and Old Town are deviating from some of the trends as a result of the considerably higher median prices in these zZIP codes. Despite the fact that Point Loma’s median price hit its lowest for the year in June at $752,000, the year-to-date price is ninth highest out of all 94 zip codes in the county. It is also more than double the county’s June median of $360,000. Whatever the reason may be, we hope and expect that since the county’s numbers as a whole are clearly improving, Point Loma’s, Ocean Beach’s and Old Town’s numbers will see improvement as well. — Erik Weichelt is the 2009 president of the San Diego Association of REALTORS®. SDAR serves as a resource for information on the local real estate market, providing monthly statistics and analysis to the general public.