The Federal home buyer tax incentive is gone and we had heard rumors that the real estate market would suffer after the expiration of the Stimulus monies, but this has proven not to be true.  Real Estate Sales in San Diego are stronger for the post stimulus period for 2010 than they were for the same period last year with stimulus funds.   The chart below is for all San Diego zip codes so it is not specific to any particular neighborhood, but illustrates a market that is steady and wants to make a rebound.

Downtown San Diego Condos Post Stimulus

We have seen some great deals over the past 18 months and we may see more, but for now there really isn’t a lot of good inventory out there.  Now don’t get me wrong, when you look at the MLS, you will find properties for sale at Smart Corner, Vantage Pointe, The Legend, Breeza Condos, the Mark, but most of these are very economical condos that are smaller and less desirable or are on the other end of the spectrum and are higher end condos that are a little on the expensive side.

What do Buyers for Condos Dowtown San Diego Want?

Many of the buyers we come accross want a two bedroom two bath condo in downtown larger than 1100 sq ft and with some views, but don’t want to pay more than $550,000.  A year ago, these buyers had many options, but today there really aren’t as many options as you might think.  For example, in the East Village Neighborhood, I did an MLS search for a 2 bed, 2 bath with at least 1200 sq ft and priced between $400k and $550k.

The only listings I came up with were three lofts at Parkloft, Icon, and M2i.  Lofts are great, but they are not the traditional condos that many folks are looking for.  Lofts don’t have bedrooms or interior walls to break up spaces or sounds so they don’t allow the privacy many people are looking for.  As far as traditional condos go, there were only 2 for sale at Union Square and one for sale at Smart Corner.  Both Union Square and Smart Corner are far removed from what most people are looking for when they say they want to live in East Village.  They both offer affordable alternatives to be in East Village, but they certainly are not in areas close to the ball park.

It seems that with this lack of middle ground in the market, we may see some competition amongst buyers for this mid grade product.  When there is a limited supply of downtown San Diego condos like this and there is a steady demand, it can often translate into higher prices.  It will be interesting to see how the rest of this year finishes out.  Interest rates are at ALL TIME LOWS and there are still tax incentives from the State of California and the new buildings are all nearing sell out.

Do you have questions about downtown San Diego Real Estate?  Give us a call and let’s start a coversation about San Diego Real Estate.  619-309-8011