Zandy points to San Diego as a prime example, where just 921 new free standing homes are for sale or under construction as of March 2011.  In a market where the normalized demand is 9,000+, the current number represents only 10% of what a market should provide.  Estimated at approximately 5 months inventory today, the 921 new homes represents less than 2 months supply in a normal year.  And, when taking into consideration the lack of new construction over the past 4 years, Zandi predicts that prices will increase in line with the recent increases in rental rates.

Karl Case looks at housing as “the little engine that could.”  It keeps chugging along, keeping the boiler warm.  Builders know when the confidence returns, buyers will be looking to get into new homes quickly before the prices go up.  That’s when the engine will need to fire up and production will start again.  For San Diego, that time is now.

Mike Castleman declares, “I’m a dirt-road economist who sees what’s happening on the ground, and in 35 years I’ve never seen a shortage of new construction like the one I’m seeing today.  The talking heads who are down on real estate will hate to hear this, but America needs to build a lot more houses.  And, in most markets the price of new homes is fixin’ to rise, not fall.”

The numbers just don’t lie.  Production is at an all-time low and the ability of builders to “ramp up” is limited by entitlement and development processing regulations that are getting more difficult and more time consuming. 

Interest rates for 30 year fixed mortgages are still below 5%.

The California Department of Finance also estimates that San Diego added over 30,000 people as residents last year.  And, estimates that San Diego has grown by an average of over 40,000 per year since 2000!

Job growth is back, nationally and specifically here in San Diego.  The California Employment Development Department reports that San Diego new jobs grew by 4,700 in the month of February and over 19,000 new jobs have been added since February of 2010.  These are good paying jobs, primarily in the Professional and Business Service sector.

The average price of a home is up, year over year and for the last three year straight!  When you look into the detail of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, only two markets in the country can make this claim, San Diego and Washington DC.  Many experts point to San Diego as one of the first metropolitan areas to experience the recent recession.  Pricing and absorptions peaked in the Summer of 2005.  It is also evident that San Diego is one of the first markets to show signs of recovery.

So, low prices, low mortgage interest rates, good job growth, strong population growth and a lack of new home inventory … the only thing missing in San Diego today is you, as a new home buyer!

Business and Professional Services led the way with 1,800 new jobs created in the month of February and 10,700 new jobs since February of 2010.  Professional, scientific and technical services continue to lead the job classification increases in this category, supporting the employment numbers with higher paying jobs.  Over 214,000 jobs are counted in the Business and Professional Services category this month, climbing back towards its peak number of 225,700 jobs in August of 2007.

On the other side of this coin, Construction jobs continue to fall.  Another 100 construction jobs were lost in February of 2011, bringing the total of construction jobs down to 53,200 Countywide.  Construction jobs peeked at over 95,100 in June of 2006.  This month’s decrease brings the total reduction to 44% in the number of employed people in the construction job categories over the last 4.5 years.

With positive economic news coming from many different sectors today, we can only hope that the strength in new employment will soon translate to new Construction jobs and the revitalization of the real estate construction industry.

The award was presented to Brookfield for its work in sustainable development and energy efficiency in home construction.  Our new Foothills community, Rockrose, is being constructed in Carlsbad.  The Eco-Savvy Rockrose is 35% more energy efficient than required by Title 24, the California Energy Efficiency Regulations for Residential Construction.  Rockrose is also focuses on water conservation, indoor air quality, recycling of construction materials and renewable resource use.  For all these Eco-Savvy factors, the Chamber of Commerce selected Rockrose and Brookfield Homes for their Environmental Spirit award.

Rockrose has been collecting other awards as well.  Home buyers and business professionals alike are recognizing Eco-Savvy design as the preferred way to provide high quality design, high quality construction and environmental sensitivity at an economic price.  Stop by and see for yourself why Eco-Savvy s the way to go!

The Demographia Residential Land & Regulation Cost Index: 2010, estimates that the cost of a new, 2150 sf, single family detached home in San Diego County included $221,000 of more restrictive land use regulation than a similar new home in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Raleigh or Saint Lewis.  They also found that the price a  new 1,500sf, attached home was $125,900 more expensive than the norm.

Demographia found that some of the more restrictive land use regulation factors contributed to the increase in costs through higher underlying land costs; increasing costs for planning and development; higher financing costs; the encouragement to build more expensive homes; increased construction costs; the encouragement of land banking; and, the encouragement of land and housing speculation.  They also point out that “as California’s strong new land use regulation act (SB 375) (is implemented), house price increases could accelerate even more in San Diego …”.

As San Diego and California struggle with the path of future residential development, there is only one clear factor to consider … more land use regulation means higher cost housing.  Affordability is impacted the most by land use regulation.  And, where affordability is impacted, then jobs housing balance is impacted.  And, where jobs housing balance is impacted then facility costs, transportation infrastructure costs and housing costs all increase.  Over regulation of land use is a downward spiral.

The City Council voted 7-0 to make the “Level 2″ restrictions permanent.  San Diego becomes a leading jurisdiction in water conservation and water usage with the extension of these rules.  Councilman Carl DeMaio praised the vote and encouraged all San Diego residents and business to embrace sustainable living.

The San Diego County Water Authority continues in its efforts to find and deliver new sources of water to San Diego.  However, these types of activities are difficult and time consuming.  SDCWA continues to stress water conservation and reports good participation by all San Diego water users.

According to Local Market Monitor Inc., the San Diego metropolitan area is the third best place to live in the United States, from a “conservative residential real estate market in which to invest.”

Alex Finkelstein posted an article on www.realestatechannel.com this morning, reporting on the recent news release from Local Market Monitor.  He said, “the best markets for conservative investors show signs of price stabilization …”.  And added, “high-ranking areas for investor suitability are places where there’s a positive three-year home price forecast, employment is stable and only a small share of jobs are in highly volatile industries such as construction and financial services.”

If we take the financial concern out of buying a new home, and add in the great location, fabulous weather, job diversity, economic strength, affordability and desirability, you have the makings for the perfect picture … San Diego.  Have you got your piece of the pie yet?

Home prices in San Diego are recovering from their lows–and it is now one of the healthier markets in the U.S. Could improved news for other real estate markets be far behind?

(PRWEB) October 1, 2010 — The San Diego real estate market is likely years away from the lofty home price levels of 2005-2006. But 15 months of steady increases and a 9.3 percent spike in year-over-year prices puts San Diego in second place for the Case-Shiller July Housing Index. That puts San Diego second only to San Francisco, which had an 11.2 percent increase for the same period.

Why is San Diego faring so much better than other parts of the country–especially with an unemployment rate of over 10 percent?

There are several possibilities, said Mike Murphy a Realtor and Certified Distressed Property Expert with San Diego Previews Real Estate. He cites:   

“Shadow inventory, short sales and pending foreclosures in San Diego remain a concern for many, but those real estate bargains are often met with multiple offers and frustrated buyers who move from one property to the next,” said Murphy. “There may be dips in the market,” he said, ” but the San Diego housing market is likely to fare better than most and may a bellwether for the rest of the country.” San Diego Previews Real Estate was selected by readers of the San Diego Union Tribune as one of the Top Ten Real Estate Brokerages in San Diego for 2010.

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San Diego New Homes and Real Estate Information | Source for this article: DailyFinance.com

The turn around for home pricing in San Diego County began in May of 2009, according to the Case-Shiller index.  And while price recover has been aggressive in lower priced homes, all value classifications for homes continue to see price appreciation.

Some analysts are predicting a price reduction for the Case-Shiller index for San Diego in August. My personal opinion is the pricing index will remain in a positive growth direction.  I believe the amount of the growth will be less than 0.5% month over month.

No matter how you look at it, with inventories falling, mortgage rates at all time historic lows and prices increasing, now is the time to make that home buying decision.

This past week we have seen headlines scream at us that the sky is falling and the world is coming to an end. The National Association of Realtors announced that sales of existing homes plummeted nationally 27.2% in July. Buried deep in that press release the San Diego Association of Realtors reported existing home sales were down 13% in San Diego County.

Yes, 13% is a large drop, but in a County where the Federal Tax Credit for buying a home ended in May and the State Tax Credit for buying your first home ended in June, a drop of 13% was not unexpected. The fact is many home buyers accelerated their purchases this year to take advantage of those tax credit offerings!

Another national press release announced that the average price for the sale of an existing home was up 0.7% over the last 12 months. Claiming that the momentum from earlier this year was dead and that home prices had topped out.

Again, buried in that press release, RealtyTrac said San Diego County experienced a 4.6% increase in home prices during the past year. While fewer people may be buying homes (see discussion above regarding the tax credit incentive), they are paying more for their homes. And, those homes are increasing in value better than the rate of inflation or the rate on your savings account from any bank today!

And, finally, another national press release did highlight some positive news. This press release found that the home loan failure rate (including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions) had decreased by 10%. While the press release did not editorialize the benefits of this drop in the home loan failure rate, it did acknowledge that the reduction was a good sign.

Again, buried in the back of this press release, the numbers for San Diego County were a bit more improved. Home loan failure rates in San Diego County were found to be down 37% from July of 2009! That is an amazing factor and shows a very strong move by the home loan holders in San Diego County back towards stability and confidence in their home ownership financially.

So, let’s review the only rule that truly applies to real estate investment anywhere in the world … LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! Can you guess where the smart buyers are putting their money in real estate today? Do you think it is on a national basis or right here, in San Diego County?

Well, you are right, But, I also would guess that you would not have come to that conclusion if you only read the headlines. Dig deeper, be a smart consumer!

“We’re doing all that we can to accommodate the needs of home buyers,” said Lora Heramb, vice president of sales and marketing for Brookfield Homes. “By offering one of the lowest new home tax rates in Carlsbad, in addition to money-saving green features, we’re providing home buyers with the ultimate in savings and value.”

Rockrose is among the lowest tax rates for new homes in Carlsbad. The 1.21% rate is based on the Rockrose median sales price of $659,000. The tax rate will increase or decrease based upon the actual sales price of the home.

In addition to the new lower property tax levels, Rockrose continues to provide the most sustainable living available in San Diego County through our Eco-Savvy design program. Energy efficiency is one of six areas of Eco-Savvy concentration incorporated into every home at Rockrose. The others are: water conservation, waste reduction, indoor air quality, sustainable building materials / wood conservation, and renewable energy / solar power (optional).

Price, quality, Eco-Savvy and lower property tax rates, what more could you want from a new home? Stop by Rockrose to see for yourself just how much value is offered in a Brookfield Home.