Archive for January, 2009
Simple San Diego Pleasures
January 27th, 2009 categories: Our Market
A picture is worth a thousand words and these pictures tell a compelling story about the new water front home opportunity at Breeza at the Embarcadero in San Diego. We’ve been extolling the virtues of this beautiful new community in the heart of downtown San Diego for a few months now but today we can show you just how special this spot really is.
What makes this opportunity so special? First of all, ocean front Real Estate isn’t getting any more plentiful and the location of Breeza is truly exceptional. If you are unfamiliar with San Diego, California you really need to make the trip to see what all the fuss is about. Clear California sunshine and sweet ocean breezes create an atmosphere of optimism. The people who live here know that no matter what, they are truly blessed to be in this place of beauty and promise.
Last week I rose early and hopped on my Vespa for a ride down the Coast Hwy. The air was warm and balmy and it reminded me of my favorite Caribbean island destination in the BVI (British Virgin Islands). The sun was still low in the east and as I skirted the beach, a mist rolled off the water and across the highway. It smelled sweet and salty. Just another beautiful morning in January in coastal San Diego.
You know, you should live here. And I’ve got just the place for you, or perhaps your home away from home.
It’s times like these that I appreciate my San Diego home more than ever. The challenges of the day make me really appreciate the little things, the simple pleasures like riding along the Coast Hwy, the ocean breeze soft against my face. I wish these same simple yet priceless pleasures for you too.
Visit the Contact page and come join the fun in San Diego.
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San Diego Collects $1.2B of Venture Funding in 2008-SDBJ Excerpt
January 27th, 2009 categories: Our Market
 The San Diego region bucked a nationwide trend as venture capital investment increased by 5 percent last quarter over the third quarter of 2008, according to a Jan. 26 report by the National Venture Capital Association and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Venture capitalists invested $205 million in 24 local startup companies last quarter, bringing total investments on the year to $1.2 billion and San Diego’s ranking up from 13th to 9th just behind Los Angeles/Orange County, which raised $279.7 million last quarter. Topping the list was Silicon Valley at $1.96 billion. However, San Diego’s quarter was way down from the $434 million invested in the last three months of 2007. For the year, San Diego companies fetched 39 percent less than the $2 billion received in 2007. Nationally, VC investment fell 8 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter and 26 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007. San Diego’s life sciences sector led investments in the quarter with $74 million, followed by the industrial/energy sector, which received $42 million, and networking and equipment sectors, which received $27 million. Of the total funds invested, 36 percent went to startups and early stage companies — an increase from 27 percent in the previous quarter. Expansion stage companies received 17 percent of invested capital, compared to 4 percent in the third quarter. And later stage companies saw investments fall. The strong showing by early stage companies surprised the report’s authors, who concluded that investors are taking advantage of lower valuations. The top five deals, which accounted for more than 50 percent of investments, were: Luxtera, a fabless semiconductor maker, with $26.75 million; Fallbrook Technologies, which makes the NuVinci transmission, with $25.4 million; Staccato Communications, a wireless technology company, with $20 million; and two biopharmaceutical firms, Anaphore with $17 million, and Calixa Therapeutics with $15.1 million. — Ned Randolph |
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Astoria at Central Park West- Irvine CA
January 20th, 2009 categories: Featured Homes
Luxury Location Lifestyle
At the pinnacle of urban living in Irvine California is Astoria at Central Park West. Visionary planning has created the ultimate community in the heart of the business corridor of Orange County, just minutes from the cool Pacific Ocean. Casual and elegant, Astoria has everything you want and need in your urban home. Conveniently located near world class shopping and dining, John Wayne Airport, the blue Pacific and the heartbeat of Orange County’s business district, Astoria is your place in the sun.
Elegant appointments are to be expected when you have arrived at this level of success and Astoria doesn’t miss a beat. Astoria’s comtemporary design becomes the height of style in the O.C., a compliment to your good taste. Let’s explore the delights that await you and your guests at your new home…
Your arrival is eagerly appreciated by the concierge who greets you and your guests. As you make your way through the elegant foyer, take a tour of the wine tasting room where you will entertain tonight. Your personal wine vault awaits in the climate controlled wine cellar.
Let the warm evening breeze carry you along as you stroll by the pool on the recreation deck. Palms sway and the city lights dance as you peek into the richly appointed community room where tomorrow, you and your guests will enjoy the ‘big game’ in comfort and style. Show off the state-of-the-art gym where you can work off the much enjoyed calories of the party.
Your home is a wonderful reflection of your sense of style, richly appointed in materials of timeless value such as granite and marble and the most modern amenities available in electronics and appliances by Fisher and Paykel.
Spacious and serene, you have arrived at one of the most sought after environs in southern California. Soak in the twinkling lights of your view over the city and feel fortunate to be in your beautiful home with the love of friends and family and a great vintage awaiting you.
Central Park West is the ultimate in an urban environment offering a true community in the heart of busy Irvine. At the heart of it all is ‘The Club’ with pool and spa, gym, meeting rooms and entertaining spaces both inside and out. Parks and tree lined streets create a sanctuary, a haven where you can relax and enjoy life. It’s a rare place and it’s brand new, waiting for you.
The opportunity to live at Astoria at Central Park West is even more alluring in today’s market. Timing is right for you to secure your new home at today’s lower prices. For buying clients represented by JB Home Sellers, a tiered incentive program is available for a limited time. Restrictions apply and this is a limited time offer so act today- Get your piece of this beautiful community and come home to Astoria.
Please visit the Contact page for JB Home Sellers and let us help you find your home at Astoria.
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Home Prices, Resales Turn a Corner in December – SDBJ Excerpt
January 13th, 2009 categories: Our Market
The median price of existing homes and condos ticked upward in December from the month before, the San Diego Association of Realtors reported Jan 8.
Citing figures provided by Sandicor’s multiple listing services, the Realtors reported that median prices on houses sold in December increased 2.7 percent from the month before to $349,450. Median prices on attached condos sold in December likewise rose 2.6 percent to $200,000.
On the year, of course, median prices for all units sold were way down — by nearly 30 percent for houses and by nearly 36 percent for condos, figures show.
The number of units sold, however, rose by more than 60 percent on the year. There were 2,440 existing homes and condos sold in December, compared to 1,499 homes and condos sold in December 2007, the real estate organization reported.
Total sales volume for existing houses in December was $700.3 million, a 7.6 percent increase on the year and a 16.3 percent increase from November.
Total sales volume for existing condos in December was $216.9 million, a 9.4 percent increase on the year and 14.8 percent increase from November.
The association said it was hopeful that December’s results indicate a bottom for the San Diego housing market.
“We are pleased to see that sales were up in December and we are optimistic that 2009 will bring a leveling out of the market for both buyers and sellers,” Erik Weichelt, 2009 SDAR president, said in a statement. “There are many opportunities for buyers right now and we encourage consumers to consult a Realtor to determine if the market is right for them before making any decisions.”
The MLS, however, does not include new home sales or homes not listed by real estate agents. Next week, the research firm MDA Dataquick will release its report on all sales that should provide a more complete picture.
— Ned Randolph
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The 2009 Real Estate Market Is About to ‘Reset’- SDBJ Excerpt
January 7th, 2009 categories: Our Market
Please enjoy this excellent article by one of San Diego’s Real Estate Guru’s, Gary London.
Real Estate – Gary H. London
Prediction is an elusive thing. No one knows what the New Year will bring.
Just one year ago most economists were projecting that our economy was in a temporary setback and would be corrected shortly.
Many took exception to the very idea that we were in a recession.
That was not true. Conversely, why would it be true that we are in for a long-term downfall?
What super powers of predictive capability have we acquired that make so many economists and pop pundits so certain of the future?
One way to measure is to look at the severity and tenure of past cycles, using those as the yardstick to measure our present crisis.
But past is not prologue. We may be setting up a whole new economic era. There may be no yardstick to measure how it plays out.
It is just a fact of our breed that we more easily embrace the popular herd mentality of the supposedly knowledgeable and authoritative among us who gloomily predict a bad year.
Now, they may very well be right. But prediction is more about our psychology than about our trends.
If you follow the news no doubt you are bombarded by the many stories of business failure, be they in real estate, Wall Street, Main Street or global.
How many homes have we visited on the TV news which have been foreclosed and abandoned, stripped of appliances and lighting fixtures?
At some level, it really gets to you. And what do you do? You take a fresh look at your family budget. You cut out the fat. You go to work, and you stop the subscriptions, memberships, cut staff and generally trim the budget.
Multiply this by the millions and you have an economic downturn.
The point is, just as easily, there can be an upturn.
Reasons To Be Upbeat
Do I really expect it? On a rational level, no. But I am a positive guy. There are reasons I can feel upbeat, including:
• We are about to inaugurate a new president. His ability to create change is no less than monumental. Not since Franklin Roosevelt will a president be given such carte blanche to effect change. This is a transformational moment in time.
• The economy, including the real estate market, may have finally arrived at, or is just before or just past the bottom. I am not certain, but it feels that we are hovering in that territory somewhere. For those of you with long memories, it is 1992 again, about three years off the market peak. Things started to improve from there, and reached full recovery three years later. (Full recovery, in this case, is defined as a return to the 1989 peak real estate values.)
• There are huge capital reserves on the sidelines, at almost every level, waiting to be invested at the right time.
• Bailout money is coming. We won’t know exactly in what form for another month or two, but new money for infrastructure spells investment in the community that is targeted to kick-start a faltering economy. It might eventually work.
Old Rules May Not Apply
Most suggest, and I am among them, that this economic downturn is different. By inference, the old rules of economic cycle may not apply. If that is the case, I buy into the idea postulated by Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, who recently suggested that “This economic crisis doesn’t represent a cycle. It represents a reset. It’s an emotional, social, economic reset.”
The very concept of “reset” suggests a re-examination of our entire financial and manufacturing systems and start again.
This is appealing because I am also inclined to accept the Thomas Friedman thesis that the world is “Hot, Flat and Crowded.” That is, due to global warming (global “weirding,” he calls it, because it is more about climatic change than just warming), intertwined problems of a shrinking globe and overpopulation of the developing nations, we must reexamine and adjust our way of life.
The United States will undoubtedly once again become a manufacturing economy.
We will gradually increase our creation and, ultimately, net export of many of those goods we gave up to the Chinese to make for us including automobiles (smaller and greener) and many other consumer goods.
And no matter who produces those goods, we will consume less of them. Bad for China. Good for us. That is “reset.”
In the world of land use and real estate, change is easy to accept because it is the fundamental mantra of this industry.
We continually examine demographics, economics, lifestyle, perception and all of the other elements of “marketplace” to look for “demand.” What I have concluded is that beginning now:
• Households are becoming smaller, because they are both younger and older at the same time (aging “baby boomers” and also first-time households known as “Gen Y”).
• Most housing will be built denser, challenging the scale now in place in most communities. This will be an evolving fact of life in San Diego and will play out incrementally and gradually.
• Most housing units will be smaller, reflecting these smaller households coupled with the need for density. Housing costs, which are now stabilizing, will remain high, however.
• Few units will be delivered in 2009, and of those that do go forward, most will be apartments, reflecting a strong demand for rental and a current shortage.
• Many commercial projects will fail in 2009, the result of retail and commercial failures. Few new projects will be built.
• A fair number of these shopping centers, auto dealerships, older office buildings, warehouse and industrial sites will become candidates for new land uses. Mainly, these new uses will become “mixed-use,” involving residential and commercial projects together on the same site.
• Policy makers will be faced with tough decisions to accommodate this need to “reset” our land use thinking. They will be thinking about the push back to change, which will be the basis of community resistance to new development. And they will also be searching for new ways to accommodate the considerable costs of upgrading infrastructure and services in the communities.
Along the way, 2009 will be a year of continuing valuation “reset.” I believe most of the valuation decline in the residential sector has already occurred. It is the commercial sectors that are next to fall.
While there is currently a “bid/ask” gap between buyers and sellers, and as a result there are relatively few transactions, eventually a re-pricing will occur.
Or, rents will simply adjust downward, meaning that the “new” economics of real estate will eventually reconnect with the “new” economics of retailing, officing, renting or owning. And a “new” dynamic will come to pass: a more affordable business and residential environment.
No matter what the scenario, or the timing of the recovery, we are setting up for change. We are an optimistic people. We want to recover, and we are ready to “reset.”
While it is very unlikely to be a banner year, 2009 will be a new beginning. Happy New Year.
Gary H. London is president of The London Group Realty Advisors, which provides real estate consulting and economic analysis. Check him out on the Web at londongroup.com.
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Mortgage Rates Fall to New Low
January 1st, 2009 categories: Our Market
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Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 24, 2008; 11:22 AM
Mortgage rates continued tumbling, as Freddie Mac reported today that interest on 30-year loans averaged 5.14 percent this week, the lowest point since it began tracking in 1971.
That was down from 5.19 percent last week, itself a new low point. A year ago, rates stood at 6.17 percent. Rates have fallen for the past eight weeks as evidence of the economy’s problems has accumulated.
At 5.14 percent, the monthly principal and interest payment on a $200,000 loan is $1,091. That’s $130 a month less than the same loan would have cost at last year’s rates.
The low rates have been a bright spot amid a torrent of downbeat economic and housing news. Homeowners have rushed to refinance their loans to cut costs or switch from adjustable-rate mortgages to fixed-rate loans. Last week, mortgage applications jumped to the highest level in five years, according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
More than 80 percent of those were applications were for refinancing, but the association also measured an 11 percent increase in applications for home purchase loans.
The 30-year mortgage rates as stated in Freddie Mac’s survey include 0.8 points. A point is an upfront financing charge equal to 1 percent of the mortgage.
Freddie Mac also reported that 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.91 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.92 percent. That’s the lowest since April 2004.
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