San Diego North County Coastal 2007 Median Home PricesThe North County Coastal San Diego 2007 Median Home Prices are retaining home values better than any other area of San Diego County. Out of the 12 North County Coastal San Diego communities 5 communities had a higher median home price in 2007 than in 2006, 5 communities had a lower median home price in 2007 than in 2006 and 2 communities had the same median home price in 2007 and 2006. The 5 communities in North County Coastal San Diego that were down had 3 of the 5 communities only down by a very small percentage. Only Oceanside 92056 and 92057 had a median home price down by more than 5%. This is still better than many areas of San Diego County. Carlsbad had 3 out of its 4 zip codes with a higher median home price in 2007 compared ... 02/29/2008

We like to plot data on maps so that you can see what's happening.  It tells a more descriptive story than trying to visualize what a list looks like.  Below is our map of Notices of Default (NODs) that have occurred in the past 15 days (supplied to us from a title company).As you will see, the majority of the NODs are in:San MarcosVistaOceansideEscondidoThere were just a few in Carlsbad and a couple in Del Mar, but only a couple. You know that where the defaults are occurring is where trouble is brewing in the home market.  It's not that you can't buy a good home in any of those locations, it's just that you need to use a lot of care or you could really see your home value tumble over the coming year.  Here's the map:This is the detached map of NODs.  We also have NOD maps for condos/a... 02/29/2008

Encinitas Homes in San Diego 2008 Median PriceEncinitas 92024 median home price was $835,000 in 2007. This is $35,000 more than the 2006 median home price of $800,000 but $5,000 less than the peak price of $840,000 in 2005. Encinitas is a great North County Coastal San Diego beach community and has held its home values well compared to many other areas in San Diego County. Encinitas has 179 homes for sale in February 2008 with a median list price of $1,396,052 and average days on market of 92 days. Encinitas has some wonderful attractions; Moonlight Beach, Swami's Beach, Encinitas Ranch Golf Course, Quail Botanical Gardens, to name a few. Encinitas is just north of Solana Beach and just south of Carlsbad. When you're ready to look for a home in Encinitas, sell a home in Encinitas or hav... 02/27/2008

The weather here today is fantabulous, about 71 degrees. Amazing for February 27th (sorry, those of you living in colder climes – been there, done that). But it’s truly a banner day here. Why? There are banners all over Encinitas along historic Route 101 (affectionately called the coast highway) from La Costa Avenue (at the north end of Leucadia) all the way to Cardiff. The 10th Annual Arts Alive Banners exhibit was recently unveiled, and the 101 banners, each an original work of art, are proudly hanging on the street lights along the main drag through Leucadia and downtown Encinitas (a distance of 6 miles – how cool is that?). The banners will all be sold at a 3-month long silent auction, with the final “live” auction in June. Bidding starts at $150 and can be placed through the Downt... 02/27/2008

For those of you who are shopping for homes in better school districts, we have the tools for you!  Last year we updated our homes-by-school-boundary maps to reflect the updated school scores.   This is just a sample map, but you can get the idea of what this is all about.  The flags show where the elementary school is, the pushpin shows the home, and the boundary lines are color-coded to show you the API score of the school.  In this case, you can see how there are homes in school boundaries ranging from orange (850-899) to green (700-749).  Pretty cool, huh? AND, if that's not enough info for you, we've also created a 4-page article entitled Schools and Homes that discusses a variety of issues relating to San Diego Schools and Homes.  So, if you need this sort of info, just give us a ... 02/27/2008

Foreclosure properties!  Everyone wants to know about them.  So we created some special computer programs to sort through the MLS listings and identify (as best we can) which properties are bank foreclosures and which are not.  (That may sound easy, but it's not as easy as you think.)  Here's an example of one of our new maps for the Encinitas and Carlsbad area.  The pushpins show you the number of bedrooms (number) and price (color).  We also have a condo/townhome map.This map is great because it does a good job of separating the short sales from the already-foreclosed property.  That's important because short sales can be difficult, while bank-owned property is much easier because the banks genuinely don't want to own property.  On short sales, it's a bit more complicated because they... 02/27/2008

ENCINITAS CONDOS Looking for Encinitas Condos and Townhomes? Want to live in Cardiff by the sea right near the Cardiff San Elijo  Lagoon, have your own gym, pool, gated parking, seconds to everything? Sound to good to be true? Think again!I just showed some Encinitas Condos and Townhomes to a client a few days ago. We visited a couple great Encinitas neighborhoods including: Pacific Pines, Park Place, Village Park, and West Hampton Cove. We came to the conclusion Pacific Pines was the best Bang for your buck, at least for her taste.  Right now there are a couple great condos for sale that have just been listed by the Hokkanen Team, see the best Encinitas Condos for sale here in Pacific Pines   here.         Feel free to check out my local area sites including, Cardiff Homes For sale, Le... 02/20/2008

The Encinitas and Carlsbad inventory situation appears to be stable.  Though inventory levels are slightly higher than last year, and prices slightly lower than last year, the market is not the kind of unstable situation that you can find in some of San Diego County's inland markets.  Here's the inventory graph, derived from data taken from the Sandicor, Inc. MLS.The median price graph is as follows:So, median price is flucuating between being higher and lower than last year, though there is a downward trend from last June.  The coming months will really tell the story.  It's important to note that the median price (at which half of the homes sell for less than that) falls close to or within the window of the new conforming mortgage limits making a real difference.  So, if people take a... 02/20/2008

Encinitas MLS San Diego MLSEncinitas San Diego CAEncinitas MLSSan Diego MLSEncinitas is located in North County Coastal San Diego. It is a wonderful beach community with many homes and condos on or close to the ocean. Encinitas has some great beaches to play on one of them is Moonlight Beach at the Encinitas Blvd. exit off of the 3. Head west and when you go over Highway 101 it turns into B Street and at the end of B Street is Moonlight Beach. The Encinitas MLS will help you with your home and condo search and will show you the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, garages, price, and location with great maps of San Diego. These San Diego MLS tools can really help you narrow down your San Diego and Encinitas MLS home search.You can search the Encinitas MLS for all homes and condos and see thei... 02/17/2008

One of the fun things we do on our web site is plot out the land and lots for sale.  It makes it really easy for those people who are shopping for a piece of land to see what's available and how close it is to the ocean.  Here's the most recent map.The color of the push pin represents the price and the number represents the number of acres (anything above 5 gets a five, and anything below 1 gets a one).  It may not look like a lot (pun intended), but this is more than we have seen for quite a while (if my memory is correct).  If you want to use the interactive map, here is the link: http://www.encinitascarlsbad.com/page.cfm?page=LotLand Call us if we can help.John Hokkanen, Encinitas Real Estate 02/14/2008

Our clients ask us what the state of affairs is in any given market, and my preference is to point to the data rather than give a thumb-in-the-air opinion.  So, with that in mind, here's what I found today (2/13).Rentals - The rental market is actually fairly strong, mainly because of low inventory.  Here's what it looks like for long term rentals right now:Now, in terms of bank-owned properties, we're still pretty clear of those.  These can really pull the prices down because the banks would rather wholesale the properties and get rid of them.The main issue that sort of appears worrisome if you look at the map is the number of homes for sale: But, as you can see if you look at a historical chart, Encinitas and Carlsbad have no greater combined inventory than the past couple of years.  ... 02/13/2008

Encinitas real estate has a new collection of homes for those who are seeking new construction. Barratt American is doing it again, building a small enclave of just 12 semi-custom properties at Quail Pointe at the intersection of Encinitas Boulevard and Quail Gardens Road, just about 1 mile from downtown Encinitas (where you can enjoy a dining and shopping extravaganza) and the fabulous Moonlight Beach. Quail Pointe is also adjacent to the wonderful Quail Botanical Gardens, and 5 minutes from major shopping and the 5 freeway.     You can read lots more about the thriving coastal community of Encinitas here, but the enticements for living here are numerous – great beaches, eclectic shopping, numerous restaurants, a popular public golf course, excellent schools, and a diversity of housin... 02/12/2008

Margaret was tied up last week with clients, so I had to go out and take a batch of photos for a listing that will come on later this week (I'll post the brochure).  But this was the cover photo and I liked it a lot for a few reasons, which I'll explain in a moment. If you want to see the before photo, click here.This is another of our new photo style of starting with a well-exposed interior shot using artificial flashes so that the room is properly exposed (and the walls and ceiling don't get too dark).  Then we overlay the base photo with a high dynamic range photo to bring out some of the wood tones and other colors by using a super-saturated HDR image and blending it.  Then we do touchup to the entire photo to finish it up for publication.The main question in this photo is: WHERE'S ... 02/10/2008

Just Reduced to $1,400,000. Stunning ocean view on desirable cul-de-sac in beautiful golf community, one mile from the beach. Built in 2004, this amazing single story home offers a secure interior courtyard with fireplace, patio/lanai and eleven sets of glass doors, inspiring resort style California Living!  02/08/2008

Encinitas Condos and Townhomes  near Solana Beach, Cardiff and Leucadia Homes For SaleAre you an Encinitas Local, or a "Wanna-Be" Encinitas Local? Well, if you are a typical home shopper and looking for a great deal on condos and townhomes for sale around Encinitas, I don't blame you. If you are seeking a great bargain on Encinitas, Solana Beach, Cardiff by the sea, Leucadia Homes etc., then you are "Wanna-being" a homeowner at a great time. Right now is a great time to make an investment in Encinitas Real Estate and the  surrounding areas. Try searching ENCINITAS CONDOS AND TOWNHOMES here or Start your ENCINITAS REAL ESTATE SEARCH here     Encinitas Real Estate, Encinitas Realtors, Encinitas Homes for Sale, MLS, 92007, 92024Take a look at all Encinitas Neighborhoods, Carlsbad Neighborh... 02/04/2008

If you are dreaming of a cottage at the beach, The Sands on the Coast Highway in Leucadia (Encinitas) may have just what you are looking for, especially if your budget is limited. Leucadia homes (cottages) at The Sands (hmm, is it named for being near the beach or after the famous Sands Hotel which used to be on The Strip in Las Vegas?) are fairly small, as are the lots, but consider this community is within a 5 minute WALK to some of the area’s nicest beaches (Grandview - see photo below; Beacon’s) where you can enjoy terrific surfing, walks, and great sunsets. A number of restaurants are within walking distance (my favorite is Le Papagayo) as is some shopping, small business services, a number of surf shops, and the well known Leucadia Donut Shop. Homes at The Sands do not come on th... 01/22/2008

The Encinitas home sales statistics for November 2007 from the MLS is below (private sales and new construction development sales that are not in the MLS are not included here). Homes for sale – 195 detached, 61 attached (down 5% from October)51 detached and 7 attached homes came on the market in November183 detached and 60 attached homes have sold in the last 6 months6 homes went under contract in November (1 attached, 5 detached)Absorption (inventory) is 6.4 months for detached (a slight increase from October) and 6.1 months for attached homes (same as October)Average marketing time YTD is 76days for attached and 62 days for detached (about the same as in October)Median sales price for detached - $870,000, the same as last monthMedian sales price for attached - $450,000, the same as ... 01/16/2008

Encinitas is going green and building a new nature center at the San Elijo Lagoon in South Encinitas (Cardiff), with construction on the $5.6 million project starting early 2008 and an expected completion date of 2009 (about 1 year). The new nature center is being built with the environment in mind, which is appropriate given its location at the San Elijo Lagoon. Solar panels will generate electricityFibers from old blue jeans will be used for the cotton insulationWaterproofing the roof will be accomplished through the use of recycled rubber from tiresIrrigation of roof-top plants will come from recycled waterOpen windows will serve as the cooling systemFloor-to-ceiling windows will provide natural light The current nature center, often missed by visitors to the 885-acre reserve, is es... 01/14/2008

It’s not what you might be thinking, especially given my recent series on local restaurants in Carlsbad, Encinitas, Cardiff and Solana Beach. But I got gas in Encinitas, and I get it there all the time. Like most folks in the area, I gripe about the high price of gasoline, and what appears to be gouging by certain gas stations. It always amazes me how there can be such dramatic price differentials from one place to another for the same stuff. Not just 3 or 4 cents but often 20 – 30 cents per gallon. Don’t get me started on the oil industry and the recent profits of the largest US companies like EXXON. Since I drive a lot showing Carlsbad homes, I tend to try not overpaying for gas, relative to what I feel is a reasonable going rate at the time. So knowing the best gas stations to buy g... 01/14/2008

The arts are alive and well in North County, and with the new LUX Art Institute facility (the institute was founded in 1998) in Encinitas, things have reached a new pinnacle. Granted, the area is not known (yet) as a center for the arts, but we are seeing many strides made in the availability of high-quality art in communities like Encinitas, Carlsbad (a town with its own fine reputation as an art community) and Solana Beach’s Cedros District. LUX Art Institute is a treasure, AND a unique concept in our area. The unique structure of this new building (designed by architect Renzo Zecchetto) itself is a work of art that blends with the surrounding environment, and perhaps symbolizes the unique perspective of the institute…the relationship between artist and viewer that evolves from the “... 01/13/2008