![\"Low](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/home.jpg\" "\\"home\\"")
<\/a>\u201cIt has gone up so much on the lower end,\u201d said Afton Miller, an agent with Coldwell Banker Mission Valley, about the North Park market. \u201cUnder $500,000 stuff has gone up $50,000 easily in the last 12 months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller cited continuing low interest rates as one reason for lower-end appreciation. Another is the \u201cseismic shift\u201d in the overall real estate market since the economic recession kicked in.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the prices are lower than they were three years ago, so they can afford to buy,\u201d she noted of buyers, adding North Park and South Park now have a cachet as the \u201ccool\u201d and \u201cin\u201d places to live. \u201cIt’s a highly desirable neighborhood because of all the restaurants, bars and coffeehouses and the North Park Theatre that have really taken off,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
While prices are \u201cmaxing out\u201d in the market’s low end in North Park and South Park, Miller pointed out that doesn’t \u201creach\u201d to the opposite end of the price spectrum. \u201cThe middle and high end has not gone up as much,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The discrepancy in Uptown\u2019s low- and high-end real estate activity is reflected throughout San Diego County. Figures show the starter-home market at $350,000 is stable and rising as distressed properties leave the market, while the market in higher-end homes at $800,000 and above is languishing, apparently because of job losses and higher-cost mortgages.<\/p>\n
Fourth-quarter changes in median housing prices in 85 ZIP Codes countywide were mixed, with prices up in 40 zones, down in 41 and unchanged in four. Results in Uptown were similar. Hillcrest\/Mission Hills had the third biggest overall increase. Normal Heights\/Kensington increased some. North Park decreased.<\/p>\n
But statistics don’t tell the whole story, said Francisco Yescas of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, an agent brokering single-family homes and condominiums in Uptown.<\/p>\n
Yescas said North Park and the other areas he covers have one thing in common. \u201cInventory is tight, there’s just not a lot available,\u201d he observed, adding the recession, while initially \u201cdownsizing\u201d market prices, has not caused homeowners to reevaluate their price expectations. \u201cPeople think they can go back to 2005, that $300,000 that was on the table then should be on the table now,\u201d he said, while adding, \u201cIt was just paper money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Yescas said recent signs in the Uptown real estate market are encouraging. In North Park’s 92104 ZIP Code, for example, Yescas said sales comparing 2008 to 2009 increased from 46 to 64, as did the average price per square foot, going from $359 in 2008 to $378 in 2009.<\/p>\n
Houses are also starting to sell faster in the area, decreasing from an average of 49 days in 2008 to 41 days in 2009, he said.<\/p>\n
More encouraging, said Yescas, is the Obama Administration’s economic stimulus package, which holds out the hope of further boosting real estate sales volumes with the extension of incentive programs offering up to $8,500 to first-time buyers, and a $6,500 credit to move-up buyers who have not purchased a home in the last five years.<\/p>\n
A worsening unemployment picture could discourage market activity, but Yescas noted that is being counterbalanced by interest rates below 5 percent again, which should have the opposite effect. \u201cIt’s something of a no-brainer,\u201d he said. \u201cIf someone is looking to move up in location, this is the time to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yescas said a \u201cquickening\u201d real estate climate could stimulate sales. \u201cI expect more people to move from condos to houses and people that have two-bedroom houses to go to three-bedroom houses and to switch ZIP Codes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Though sagging employment encourages home buyers and sellers to \u201chold their cards to their chests\u201d in the near term, Yescas believes those with a longer time horizon should be encouraged by prospects for a real estate rebound. \u201cUnless another 9\/11 hits, if you\u2019ve got something more than a five-year plan, you\u2019re going to be fine,\u201d he said, adding sales growth will more than likely be positive with \u201creasonable increases\u201d in price in the near future.<\/p>\n
In the foreseeable future, growth in the Uptown real estate market will depend on banks\u2019 home-loan policies. \u201cA lot of it will have to do with what Wall Street does \u2013 or doesn\u2019t do \u2013 with loans,\u201d Yescas said. \u201cRight now, any loans over $1 million are not being packaged. Nobody wants to carry them. They’re (banks) not letting go of the money, and if they are, they’re charging exorbitant (interest) rates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yescas added the recession has caused a \u201cfundamental shift\u201d in the public’s perception of what’s affordable. \u201cAnything under $500,000 or $600,000 is affordable for San Diego,\u201d he said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
San Diego real estate By Dave Schwab Recent statistics indicate the Uptown real estate picture is beginning to brighten, although the lower end of the market is benefiting disproportionately. \u201cIt has gone up so much on the lower end,\u201d said Afton Miller, an agent with Coldwell Banker Mission Valley, about the North Park market. \u201cUnder […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":243202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Low interest rates fuel area home sales","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}