As we move into 2011, hopes are high that the San Diego real estate market will show some signs of improvement in the new year. In the 92109 ZIP code, like with the rest of the county last year, the end of the third quarter posted very few sales in Pacific Beach. The good news is that in the last quarter of 2010 there was an increase in sales, especially for attached properties. Taking a look at the big picture, we see that from a unit sales perspective, attached properties are showing signs of stability in Pacific Beach. For the 2010 year, 241 attached properties had sold, versus 249 units that sold in 2009. Attached properties spent an average of 104 days on the market in 2010 and 96 days in 2009. The median price year to date was $365,000, 16 percent lower than the 2009 median price of $434,000. The median sales price remained fairly consistent in the last quarter of 2010. Detached properties did not experience the same increase in sales and median price in the fourth quarter. From November to December of 2010, sold listings were almost exactly the same, but they sold much quicker, an average of 57 days on the market in December and 78 days on the market in November. Looking at the entire year, detached properties showed promise in Pacific Beach. More homes sold in 2010 than in 2009, and quicker. In 2009, 130 homes had sold by the end of December; in 2010, 161 homes were sold. These homes sold in an average of 78 days as compared to 81 in 2009. Lastly, the median price decreased only slightly; $753,000 in 2009 down to $746,000 in 2010. To put these numbers in perspective, properties in Pacific Beach performed similarly to the county overall in the last quarter. However, the number of sales in the beach area peaked in November as opposed to the county overall, which peaked in December. There was little change to the region’s median sales price from November to December, while the 2010 median sales price was 8 percent higher than in 2009. In contrast, in 92109 the median sales prices in 2010 decreased from 2009; 1 percent for detached homes and 16 percent for attached homes. It’s hard to predict what will happen in 2011. The market is still flushing out some distressed properties, which causes deviations from the usual patterns. At this point in the real estate cycle, residential properties are selling at substantially below replacement costs. Combined with interest rates at historical lows, I cannot think of a better time in the past 36 years to purchase a home. — Bob Kevane is the president of the San Diego Association of REALTORS®.