It marks the first annual increase since in 5 years, data show
By Lily Leung

Sales of million-dollar homes in San Diego County rose 15 percent in 2010, the first year-over-year increase since 2005, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Last year, the county saw 1,814 sales in that price range, up from 1,578 in 2009, a possible sign the high-end market may be picking up, real estate experts say.

That upward motion is mirrored statewide, where 22,529 homes priced at $1 million or more sold in 2010, up 21 percent from 2009, when 18,621 sold.

In San Diego County, the priciest sale in 2010 was a 4-bedroom, 4.5-bath beachfront home in Coronado, at $10.5 million, according to county assessor’s records and agents. The home has a rooftop terrace overlooking the ocean and Hotel del Coronado, a theater room and saltwater spas.

San Diego has kept records of the number of foreclosures and Trust Deeds and Trust Sales since 1974.  And even though it appears, statistically speaking, the number of Notice of Defaults has been reduced, the next 90 days is critical in that it will reveal whether the pendulum is swinging back to “safety”, or are the banks about to deliver stored up foreclosures into the marketplace.

The number of “All Deeds” indicates our current market, good, bad or unchanged.  The number of NOD (Notice of Defaults) indicates the number of homes that our very close to foreclosure.  Those NOD’s that go to sale is the Trustee Deeds.

In 2009 there were a total of 38,300 approximate NOD’s filed.  That is an average of 3192 Notices filed each month during 2009.  In 2010 there was a total of 24,800 approximate filings.  The average is 2070 per month.  The result is an average of 1122 fewer filings per month in 2010 than 2009.  In January, 2011 there have been 2035 filings of Defaulted Loans.

Click here for the Foreclosure Forum, a statistical report from 1974 - present.

By Roger Showley, UNION-TRIBUNE

San Diego rank 10th in real estate markets to watch in 2011, the Urban Land Institute said Wednesday.

In its 32nd annual "Emerging Trends" report, based on 275 face-to-face interviews with industry experts, the Washington-based think tank said coastal markets like San Diego will do better than other parts of the nation.

But the experts, speaking at ULI's annual convention in Washington and via the Internet, said no market or sector is doing well.

"We've been living large in a time of more," said Jonathan Miller, who authored the report that looked at 51 U.S. markets and several in Canada and Latin America. "In the end it all resulted in a lot of losses and some major flops. As predicted last year, 2010 would be the bottom for the commercial real estate market. In fact, we think that's happened. Next year is, after a period of more-more-more, we're entering this period of less -- the 'Era of Less.'"

by Phoebe Chongchua
 
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that “affordability” is the top reason for home buying in 2010.

That makes sense, especially in unstable market conditions. Buyers, as always, are looking for a bargain but, more than ever, they’ve been enticed by low home prices and low interest rates, according to a survey by Weicher Realtors, Inc.

The survey gathered information from 1,261 of the company’s customers who bought homes between July 1 through December 31, 2010.

What about pride in homeownership? it appears that buying a home because they didn’t want to rent, was not the driving force. Instead, it came down to price. This differs from survey results five years ago when respondents (26%) said, “the desire to own their home and stop paying rent” motivated them to buy, according to the Wall Street Journal.