According to an article released today by Zillow, San Diego is leading the nation for gains in real estate.  Zillow monitored 27 metropolitan areas and found that home values in San Diego rose 3.7 percent for the month of March. This rise was higher than any of the other regions and the overall trend for real estate gains nationwide was actually a negative 3.8%.

Out of the 27 Markets tracked, San Diego Real Estate had the best gains, but only five other metro areas had positive gains. Four of the other markets are also located in California and include Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Real Estate San Diego Gains Ground

Home values on the lower end price range of San Diego Real Estate have made significant gains in the past 10 monthsaccording to Zillow Zestimates. Even though home values could fall again, it is much more likely, given the current market conditions that they will continue to post gains on the lowest levels that were reached in 2009.

Real Estate in San Diego from March 2009- March 2010 has shown the median price has risen 15.8% to $330,000 according to MD Dataquick. We are seeing the Downtown San Diego Real Estate Market stabilize. We are definitely seeing that the marketplace in San Diego has improved compared to this same time last year.

San Diego Real Estate Appreciation

It is estimated that the San Diego real estate market won’t experience very much appreciation over the next 3-5 years, but that now is a great time to buy. The only obstacle keeping the market from rebounding are the shadow foreclosures we see in the pipeline. Once the foreclosure inventory dries up, we are going to see a completely different marketplace for San Diego real estate.

Downtown will also see opportunities dry up as many of the new condo sales projects near being sold out. Bayside Condos are at 60% sold out, Solara Lofts are down to the last 12 homes, Park Terrace condos are down to the last 5 units and Sapphire Tower is at 70% sold out as well. There is a lot of inventory at Vantage Pointe and Smart Corner, but it won’t take too long for those properties to sell out once the resale inventory starts to get absorbed. 

On a different note, First American Core Logicis suing Zillow over the Zestimates we mentioned above. First American is suing on the basis that Zillow violated patent laws on the technology used for its Zestimates.