Another of San Diego’s Finest Neighborhoods, Carmel Valley. Here Is The Scoop -Rina Podolsky San Diego Exclusive Properties_ Carmel Valley Homes For Sale

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Carmel Valley is a community in San Diego county that has become one of the prime Neighborhoods for many reasons, from its privileged location just a short distance from the beach, it’s top ranking schools and it’s easy freeway access. It has fared better than many local areas through the Real Estate market ups and downs and continues to be a very sought after place to live.

• LOCATION

Carmel Valley is bordered to the north by the North City Future Urbanizing Area (NCFUA) and Pacific Highlands Ranch; to the south by Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve and Torrey Hills; to the east by Pacific Highlands Ranch and Del Mar Mesa; and to the west by Interstate 5 and Torrey Pines. Nearby is the Torrey Pines State Preserve, where one of two stands of the endangered Torrey Pine is found to occur.

While many people in the area are now referring to the entire 92130 zip code as Carmel Valley, the actual boundaries of the community remain unchanged from the original community plan. The remainder of the 92130 zip code is filled by the surrounding communities of Del Mar Mesa, Pacific Highlands Ranch, and Torrey Hills.

Original Carmel Valley Area Map

• HISTORY

The earliest inhabitants of the area are believed to have been the earliest settlers in the region. There have been some artifacts found along the Carmel Creek area that are said to belong to this Native American tribe, confirming their settlement in the area, however, little is known about their life in this region.

Later in time, around the 1800 to 1900 the area was known as “Cordero” in it is where we find “Ranchers” it is thus known as the Rancho Period. The main activity in the region was producing and trading cattle hides and tallow. This was immediately followed by a period of agriculture became the main trade. At this time in history, we had the California Gold Rush going at full swing and some of these gold rushers did come to settle in the area, among those settlers we had the McGonigle Family who acquired  2,040 acres of what is today known Carmel Mountain preserve. It was then that the area became known as “McGonigle Valley.

Around the 1890’s the sisters of Mercy came from San Francisco down to the region. When they established themselves in the area they gave medical care to the McGonigle family and established a dispensary in 1000 acre parcel of land that they purchased from the same family. They also established a dairy farm and a vegetable garden. They also built a three story Victorian home that has played different roles through out time, it played the role of housing orphans, dispensary for the nuns and that is what later became Mercy Hospital, it later became a private home and horse ranch and most recently, after the Carmelites land was divided in two by the passing of the 56 freeway in the middle of their land, the home became property of the Chabbad center and it is currently on sale. The other half of the property houses a Church and burial grounds.

This nuns  from the Carmelite order and were instrumental in naming the area when they named a mountain “Carmel Mountain” and their ranch “Carmel Mountain Ranch” after it. That is how the area got it’s name.

Sisters of Mercy Victorian House

However in 1975 the area was mapped out and a plan was established it was named the “North City West Master Plan” and the name of the area was changed to North City West.

Construction in the area began in 1983 and by that time the original name had stuck to the region and so in 1990 the local planing board change the name back to Carmel Valley. The area is designated with the 92130 zip code.

Today Carmel Valley has grown to include surrounding areas such as: Torrey Hills, Del Mar Mesa and Pacific Highlands Ranch.

• SHOPPING + ENTERTAINMENT

As of Today there are 3 main shopping Areas.

The largest is Del Mar Highlands Town Center It includes fast food restaurants such as Mc Donalds, El Pollo Loco and Rubio’s,  it also has Red Robin, Sammy’s Pizza and Champagne bakery, Starbucks and Chuao chocolatiers. It is divided in upper and lower level and houses some clothing boutiques, Gepetto’s Toy store,  an Aveda and a Barnes & Noble book store. It houses two major groceries stores, Ralphs and a Jimbo’s which is a more natural and organic store. This shopping center included the Carmel Valley Ultra star movie theaters, however they ar currently close for remodel and will re-open sometime this summer.

There is another shopping center called Piazza Carmel  It is a smaller plaza that includes Souplantation, Villa Capri a Vons grocery store, some boutiques and banks. Across the street you will find a Shell Gas station and a Pat & Oscar’s restaurant.

The other shopping area is  Torrey Hills Shopping Center located in the southern part of Carmel Valley, this plaza is the most recently built but it is also the smallest one, it has a Vons groceries store as well, Starbucks, an italian restaurant three banks and the Carmel Valley office of Windermere Exclusive Properties.

The Scoop is that there will be 3 more shopping areas built in Carmel Valley, 2 of them are expected to be big shopping centers. One is located on the corner of Del Mar Heights and El Camino Real right across of Del Mar Highlands Town Center and construction is expected to begin soon.

The other major shopping area that is expected to be built is in the Pacific Highlands Ranch Neighborhood, it is said that it will include some major department stores but no word yet on which ones or when it will be built.

Finally, in the corner of Carmel Mountain and Carmel Country, Pardee is building a new community, part of the land, the south-west corner of it to be precise, is designated to be commercial/retail, No word yet what stores will be there but it is a much smaller space.

There is also a little known secret, here is the Scoop there is an Organic Farm right in the middle of Carmel Valley called Sea Breeze Farms

Also coming to the neighborhood we have 3 restaurants opening their doors in 2011, all of the in Del Mar Highlands town center. Rimel’s Rotisserie, The Counter which will be a burger place, Searsucker a great downtown restaurant is also working on opening up a new restaurant as is Swirls, a yoghurt ice cream store.

The movie theater will re-open with a new concept of VIP theaters where patrons will be able to reserve their seat ahead of time and there will be drinks and dinner served to your seat.

There are many excerisze places that go from yoga and pilates studios to full out sport centers. There are 2 in particular that are worth mentioning:

Pacific Athletic Club – One of San Diego’s  finest sports resorts.

The Training Club – An innovative, high energy, and fun workout facility, totally committed to creating exercise programs for groups and individuals.

 

• REAL ESTATE MARKET

There are currently 230 Homes listed as Active

Here is a brief chart of the current listing statistics

out of which 160 are Detaches homes 70 are attached

There are 33 homes showing as contingent (this is a recently added status that means an offer has been accepted by the buyer and an approval is being negotiated with the bank in the case of a short sale)

There are 62 homes in escrow or listed as pending

In the past 30 days there were 35 homes that Sold here is a chart to view the stats of past months sale

out of those 35, 22 were detached homes and 13 were attached

There are 224 properties in the public records list of homes in some stage of Foreclosure, you can search foreclosures here

In general this area has fared very well thru the Real Estate market downtown.

You will be able to find many different communities within the area and prices go from $205,000 to $7,980,000 but the average sales price is around $1,ooo,000. If you want to look for homes in this area be sure to check out this site

• SCHOOLS



ELEMENTARY

There are 3 main School District operating in the area as far as elementary schools go.

Solana Beach School District

Solana Highlands: 3520 Long Run Drive; Office: 858.794.4300, Fax: 858.794.4350, CDC: 858.794.4377

Carmel Creek: 4210 Carmel Center Road; Office: (858) 794-4400, Fax: (858) 794-4450, Absence: (858) 794-4451, CDC: (858) 794-4477

Solana Pacific: 3901 Townsgate Drive; Office: (858) 794-4500, Fax: (858) 794-4550, CDC: (858) 794-4577, Absence: (858) 794-4551

Del Mar Union School District

Ashley Falls: 13030 Ashley Falls Drive; voice 858.259.7812, fax 858.259.1828 Carmel Del Mar: 12345 Carmel Park Drive; voice 858.481.6789, fax 858.481.7418

Del Mar Heights: 13555 Boquita Drive, Del Mar, CA 92014; voice:858.755.9367, fax:858.509.1412 Del Mar Hills: 14085 Mango Drive, Del Mar, CA 92014; voice: 858.755.9763, fax: 858.755.6107 Sage Canyon: 5290 Harvest Run Drive; voice: 858.481.7844, fax: 858.481.7949 Torrey Hills: 10830 Calle Mar de Mariposa; voice: 858.481.4266, fax: 858.481.0344 Sycamore Ridge: 5333 Old Carmel Valley Road; voice: 858-755-1060 Ocean Air: 11444 Canter Heights Drive; voice: 858.481.4040

Poway Unified School District

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Both Solana Beach and Del Mar Union school districts merge when it comes to upper grades but Poway remains separate. We have:

Carmel Valley Middle School 3800 Mykonos Lane 858-481-8221

Earl Warren Junior High 155 Stevens Street, Solana Beach, CA 92075 858-755-1558

And Poway Unified School District

HIGH SCHOOL

Torrey Pines High School 3710 Del Mar Heights Road 858-755-0125 (Torrey Pines High School Foundation)

Canyon Crest High School 5951 Village Center Loop Road 858-350-0253 (Canyon Crest High School Foundation)

And Poway Unified School District

Only a very small section of Carmel Valley falls into the Poway School District designated boundaries and most people don’t even know that this is the case, so make sure you confirm that the home you are considering moving into falls into the boundaries of the school district that you are looking for. All of the schools in the area have received top rankings you can check the scores in this CA state website

You will also find Private schools in Carmel Valley:

San Diego Jewish Academy Upper School (grades 6-10) 11860 Carmel Creek Road voice (858) 704 3770 fax (858) 704 3771 Lower School (grades K-5) 11860 Carmel Creek Road voice (858) 704 3761 fax (858) 704-3701 Cathedral Catholic High School 5555 Del Mar Heights Road 858-523-4000 Notre Dame Academy pre-school to 8th grade 4345 Del Mar Trails Road 858.509.2300 thesisters@ndasd.org

Del Mar Pines (grades K-6) 3975 Torrington Street San Diego, CA 92130 858-481-5615

If you have any other questions about Carmel Valley, would like any additional information or want information in any of the surrounding areas please feel free to contact me at : info@SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com

 

 

Have We Seen The Worst Of The Real Estate Market In San Diego? What To Expect For 2011. -Rina Podolsky Carmel Valley Real Estate-

Have we seen the worst of the Real Estate Market slum or are we still on the way down? That is the main question that analyst are asked. As we begin 2011 there are many factors that will determine the behavior of this market on the year to come. Although there is no clear consensus, the majority of the experts predict that we are either bouncing at the bottom or on our way out of it, there are some that still predict a 5% slide in some areas. The Real Estate Market in some parts of California like Del Mar, and La Jolla are believed to be on their way out however to get a better understanding of what is ahead, here is a look at what experts look are looking at.

The determining factors that will come into play this year are mainly 4

• Unemployment.- Much of the markets bounce back is now hinging on this indicator. It is clear that if people don’t have jobs they will not be able to buy a home but it is also important to understand that even people who have a job need to feel that job is secure to feel they can take on the responsibility of home ownership. If the Job market gets stronger and companies start hiring instead of letting go of personnel that will help the housing market greatly.

• Mortgage Rates.- Home affordability is now at a great level. One of the upsides to the National crisis is that with home prices having dropped an average of 29% nationally and Mortgage rates being at historically low levels, many people who could not afford to buy a home are now able to. Even though credit has been challenging to get and underwriters are being very strict with the loans, there is an important sector that does qualify in today’s market conditions that would not have done so before. Mortgage rates have gone up for five consecutive weeks, yet they still remain at a low level, if they continue to go up, the affordability will be affected and in those cases prices will need to adjust down so that buyers can continue to buy. If the rates remain steady then prices will most likely do the same.

• Home Inventory.- There has been a lot of talk regarding the large inventory of homes that are in some stage of the foreclosure process and of how those homes threaten to hit the market and like a new wave that consequently will bring prices down once again. It is very important that we understand some key differences between the situation of that first wave of foreclosures and the next one. After the market crashed, new construction came practically to a screeching halt. Builders main focus was to get rid of their inventory and they all but stopped planing new projects. Also, banks had no systems in place to deal with loan modifications, short sales and foreclosures. Not that what the banks are doing today can be considered efficient or a well oiled machine, but at least there are more systems in place. Banks also understand very well by now that if the market has a big slide, they, as property owners which they have undoubtedly become, will be very hurt. If instead, they control de speed and amount of foreclosed properties coming into the market, they are being greatly benefitted. Banks are more open to bulk transactions, homes are being sold more often at court steps, lenders are making some efforts to get short sales approved, loan modifications work. I do say some efforts because they are still very far from I would say they are efficiently doing either one of those.

• Government programs.- Last year the government implemented tax credits that were succesful in getting buyers off the fence and getting the Real Estate Market moving. Once those credits expired the market definitely stalled again, it did not stop but it certainly slowed down. The government has said that they will take a detailed look at two of the most important agencies. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be revised and the president has said that in the coming months there will be some serious changes to both. That will very likely have an effect on how the market behaves, specially since in todays market, it is said that 9 out of 10 loans are backed by one of those two agencies. Emile Haddad, chief executive of FivePoint Communities Inc said that due to this key factor he believes the market will remain steady for all of 2011.

One thing I do know is that I agree with Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, the recovery will not happen evenly across the country and talking about California’s Real Estate recovery in particular it will happen in the areas near the coast first and way before the areas like Riverside or San Bernardino. Once again we go back to Real Estate’s cardinal rule, Location, location, location!  As he explains itat there are not enough high earning people in the later areas whereas Del Mar, La Jolla, Newport, San Francisco, Beverly Hills, etc. as he said

” A place like Silicon Valley, or a place like West Los Angeles, there is a critical mass of very high-income people.… That means you have a large number of people who can afford to spend in the neighborhood of $1 million on a house, and these are desirable places.”

So he believes that these areas will se a return to their peak levels within 5 years, where the other areas, will take much longer and will have to change the product they offer to cater to a different income market before they can see a comeback.

The one thing that most if not all experts agreed on is that bottoms are really hard to pinpoint, usually people can only see the bottom when the uptick is already strong. The one thing that is clear is that this a good time to buy, specially because of the combination of low prices and low mortgage rates that will not be seen in many years to come.

If you have any further questions or for information regarding The San Diego Real Estate market you can go to our web site www.SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com or contact us and we will be happy to help.

A year in review. 2010 San Diego Real Estate Market Analysis -Rina Podolsky Carmel Valley Homes For Sale-

Here we are once again at the close of a year. I find it helpful to look back and see how the Real Estate Market in San Diego, specially in the areas where I do most of my business trended. I am sharing with you a very brief summary of the Real estate Market of homes that sold in Carmel Valley, Del Mar, La Jolla, Rancho Santa Fe, Solana Beach and Coronado. I am hoping you find it useful or at the very least interesting. In a future blog post I will be talking about the Real Estate Forecast for 2011.

• CARMEL VALLEY 92130

Sold Homes :

Detached

# sold 411

Price:

High: $5,100,000    Low: $522,000   Average: $1,026,345

Price per S.F:

High: $573.03             Low: $221.07      Average: $337.78

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 96%

Days on Market: Average 51

Attached

# sold 256

Price:

High: $712,000  Low: $198,100 Average: $408,806

Price per S.F:

High: $447.76             Low: $251.91      Average: $339.13

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 97%

Days on Market: Average 68

Most Expensive Home Sold in Carmel Valley in 2010. Sale price was $5,100,00

• DEL MAR 92014

Sold Homes :

Detached

# sold 93

Price:

High: $8,000,000    Low: $685,000   Average: $1,726,665

Price per S.F:

High: $2580.65             Low: $241.63      Average: $637.40

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 93%

Days on Market: Average 101

Attached

# sold 44

Price:

High: $1,850,000  Low: $182,500 Average: $534,783

Price per S.F:

High: $1.013.22             Low: $248.80      Average: $437.55

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 97%

Days on Market: Average 68

Most Expensive Home Sold in Del Mar in 2010

• LA JOLLA 92037

Sold Homes :

Detached

# sold 254

Price:

High: $10,000,000    Low: $100,000   Average: $1,337,000

Price per S.F:

High: $1,550.39             Low: $221.07      Average: $619.74

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 92%

Days on Market: Average 96

Attached

# sold 276

Price:

High: $5,950,000  Low: $175,000 Average: $648,893

Price per S.F:

High: $1,574.07             Low: $206.55      Average: $439.66

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 95%

Days on Market: Average : 80

Most Expensive Home Sold in La Jolla in 2010. Sold for $10,000,000

• RANCHO SANTA FE 92067

Sold Homes :

# sold 174

Price:

High: $9,575,000    Low: $650,000   Average: $2,470,799

Price per S.F:

High: $907.41             Low: $152.85      Average: $430.21

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 90%

Days on Market: Average 151

Most Expensive Home Sold in Rancho Santa Fe in 2010. Selling Price was $9,575,000

• SOLANA BEACH 92075

Sold Homes :

Detached

# sold 90

Price:

High: $4,550,000    Low: $499,500   Average: $1,241,699

Price per S.F:

High: $1,481.60             Low: $239.59      Average: $537.09

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 95%

Days on Market: Average 88

Attached

# sold 75

Price:

High: $1,600,000  Low: $195,000   Average: $637,313

Price per S.F:

High: $1,074.75             Low: $201.48      Average: $426.29

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 95%

Days on Market: Average 64

Most Expensive Home Sold in Solana Beach in 2010. Sale price was $4,550,00

• CORONADO 92118

Sold Homes :

# sold 225

Price:

High: $10,500,000    Low: $479,900   Average: $1,452,743

Price per S.F:

High: $4,506.07             Low: $246.44      Average: $728.82

Selling Price vs. Asking Price :  Average 92%

Days on Market: Average 119

Most Expensive Home Sold in Coronado in 2010. Sale price was $10,500,000

If you want any more information on the data shown here or how to best use and interpret this information, feel free to contact us. You can reach us thru our web site www.SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com where you can also search for all the listings and foreclosures available in San Diego.

Wishing you a happy healthy 2011!!!

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The Begining Of A Crown Jewel: La Jolla’s History & Current Real Estate Statistics -Rina Podolsky Carmel Valley Real Estate_

La Jolla’s zip code 92037 has remained for many years in the list of Most expensive Real Estate areas in the Country and the World. Today, the Real Estate Market in La Jolla has slowed down quite a bit just like many of the other most exclusive markets in the world, however it has not lost so much of its value. Here are the current statistics for the Real Estate market in La Jolla according to the Multiple Listing Service:

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Active Listings: 400

Detached-217

Attached-183

Contingent Listings: 27

Detached-13

Attached-14

Pending (In escrow): 63

Detached-38

Attached-25

Sold in last 30 Days: 42

Detached-20

Attached-22

Of those sold in the last 30 days:

Average Days on Market-96

Average of Sale Price vs. asking price 96%

Average price per S.F.-$540.81

Average Price- $1,216,964

The most expensive Home Sold so far in 2010 was sold for $10,000,000

The most expensive Home Currently listed for Sale has an asking price of $29,500,000

This is what La Jolla Real Estate Market happens to look like today, but if you ever wonder, how did it all begin? Here is a brief look at the History of this Jewel so many people call home.

La Jolla is believed to have been inhabited by Native American cultures and there have been some artifacts that were found and conform this idea, however, there is no clear knowledge of who they were, and what happened to them. The earliest written records that have been found, are scattered records back from 1870, in which the spelling of the area was “La Joya” Which is consistent with the Spanish spelling of the word “Jewel, so it was called “The Jewel”. Some people have argued that the real name comes from the Native American term “Woholle” which means hole in the mountain.

Although there is no certainty of where the name came from, the idea of the area being called La Jolla after the word Jewell does make a lot of sense, it is certainly considered to be one pf the crowning Jewell’s to San Diego, with it’s breathtaking views of the ocean and its mansion lined streets, this area really shines.

This city was incorporated in the year 1850. 1869 is the year where they had the first recorded sale of land in this area, the purchase of these lots, called the “Sizer” lots, was made by two brothers. The cost of the land was $1.25 per ACRE, each brother bought a 80 Acre parcel of land on what is now Downtown La Jolla.

However, the first man to start auctioning pieces of land was Frank Terril Bostford, that earned him the nickname of “Father of La Jolla”.

La Jolla Country Club

This area went from having 350 residents in the year 1900 to having 4000 by the end of the World War I. The economic basis for this area was tourism.

Regarding it’s Architecture, it shifted from being mainly cottages to a Spanish Mission Style. However by 1929 with the Market crash and the economy collapsing, the area saw almost no new construction for the following 10 years. It was until the beginning of World War II that the area saw a new boom, this time the hills adjacent to this area were also includes in the new development of the area. At the end of the War, many people made thi area their home and a new growing spur was visible. The surrounding areas were made into subdivisions.

By 1960 La Jolla had 17,000 people calling it home and today there are about 40,000 residents.

Another historical fact that put La Jolla in the History books, was the fact that Charles Lindbergh learned to fly his gliders, flying out of the top of Mt. Soledad. Today, there are no Gliders flying out that same spot however there is very well known Glide Port in the Torrey Pines area right above the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

And speaking about area attractions, there is the 7 caves at La Jolla Cove, today only 1 of the caves remains accessible but it is a favorite exploration spot for scuba divers and kayakers, there are many people who come to the area for both water activities.

AS far as Hotel’s go, Downtown La Jolla is home to “La Valencia Hotel” which was a destination hotel for many of the movie stars of the  Golden Era, and it still remains today as one of the most exclusive hotels with a magnificent view of the ocean and a lavish Sunday Brunch that has become a tradition for localites.

Hotel La Valencia

It is no surprise that La Jolla, with its natural beauty has been the home and inspiration of many  artist and writers. Perhaps one of the best known in the area would be Theodore Geisel A.K.A Dr. Seuss, his paintings can still be seen in some of the Gallery’s on Prospect St.

During the 1960’s La Jolla became the home of the prestiged school UCSD and the Salk institute, recognized also for its infamous architecture, designed by Louis I Kahn, one of the great Architects of that century.

Salk Institute

Today, La Jolla remains a breathtaking upscale area where you can go see some of the most magnificent homes in the country.

Homes around La Jolla

Another Beautiful La Jolla Home

Here is a Timeline of other interesting facts:

1893 – Opening of La Jolla Park Hotel

1894 – Railroad extended to La Jolla from San Diego; La Jolla Post Office established; Reading Room opened; Anna Held arrived in La Jolla and created Green Dragon Colony

1895 – First La Jolla Village Improvement Society organized

1896 – Ellen Browning Scripps buys two lots on the ocean side of Prospect Street and builds her first home

1897 – Library Association of La Jolla formed

1899 – Barber Tract development begins (first known as Neptunia); first telephone lines installed

1904 – Wisteria Cottage built

1905 – Marine Biological Association organized, later Scripps Institution of Oceanography

1906 – Ground broken for new bathhouse at the Cove; first La Jolla newspaper is published

1910 – The Bishop’s School is built

1911 – Electricity introduced into La Jolla

1913 – Opening of Colonial Inn (Grande Colonial La Jolla)

1915 – Arsonist sets fire to several La Jolla buildings, including Ellen Browning Scripps’ house; work begins on new home designed by architect Irving Gill

1918 – Scripps Memorial Hospital opens (first known as the Sanitarium); paving of La Jolla streets begins

1924 – Electric railroad starts running; Casa de Manana opens as resort hotel; street lights introduced; summer “Jollification” celebration held

1926 – La Valencia opens; Balmer School started (today La Jolla Country Day); La Jolla Country Club takes shape; The Muirlands begin development

1927 – La Jolla Beach and Yacht Club formed (now La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club)

1960 – Location of University of California San Diego campus determined in La Jolla

1964 – Salk Institute built along with high-rise at 939 Coast Blvd. and Seville apartments at 1001 Genter Street

1974 – La Jolla commercial areas impacted by opening of University Towne Center shopping mall

1983 – BLOB (“Ban Large Office Buildings”) organized to oppose large structures being built through the 1980s by banks and other developers

La Jolla Today

La Jolla Coast

For any information on this post or any other post contained in this Blog please contact me at:

http://www.SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com

or follow me in twitter:  http://twitter.com/RinaPodolsky

Del Mar California, How It All Began And Its Real Estate Market Condition Today -Rina Podolsky Carmel Valley Homes For Sale-

One of the Most beautiful areas in San Diego is an area called Del Mar, it is nestled between the Pacific ocean and the Freeway 5. Home to the World Famous Torrey Pines Golf Course as well as the Del Mar Fairgrounds Racetrack. It is an area filled with history and most of all natural Beauty. Home to many artist and personalities. It is among the most exclusive communities in San Diego and it is known for having the feel of a small town, with beautiful and very unique homes. The breathtaking views don’t hurt either.  As if all that was not enough incentive to jus buy a home and move here, it also has some of the highest ranking Public Schools, from Elementary all the way to High School.

Every time I have had the opportunity to sell a home in this beautiful area I am reminded of how lucky I am to be able to work in this part of the world.

I have compiled a brief snapshot of this area, including its History, some pictures and the state of its Real Estate Market.

According to the local Multiple Listing Service, Del Mar California has the following statistics:

active Homes(for sale):  191________144 Detached________47Other

Contingent Homes:              7_________1    Detached_________6 Other

Pending Homes:                  20________15  Detached _________5 Other

Sold Last 30 Days:              12________9      Detached_________3 Other

The averages for the properties that sold the last month are as follows:

72 Days On Market

95% Of the asking Price (SP/AP)

$718.10 per S.F

$1,677,150.00

This are the Statistics for the properties currently listed for sale:

126 average _______________2 to 1,212 Days On Market

$970.25 average___________$223.37 to $7315.79 Price per S.F.

$2,679,000.00 average_____$164,900 to $61,000,000.00 Asking Price.

The Most expensive listing in Del Mar can be viewed in one of my previous post Top 10 Most expensive Homes For sale in San Diego .

 It happens to be the #1 MOST expensive home currently for sale in all of San Diego!

I have driven up and down the stretch of Hwy 101 that extends from Carmel Valley Road up to Via de La Valle hundreds of times. It is one of my favorite areas of San Diego yet, I had never questioned how it all came to be.

This piece of heaven also called Del Mar California has the feel of a European medieval town, with the atmosphere of a small community and some of the most stunning ocean views that never end.

So, how did it all get started? When did it begin?

I found some information on Del Mar ‘s history through it’s own historical society.

According to documents found the date when you could say everything was set in motion was on August 14 1882, the day the railroad tracks were laid along this stretch of coastline in the effort of uniting San Diego and San Bernardino.

The man in charge of overseeing the project was Theodore  M. Loop, an engineer and contractor. He set up camp in a beautiful parcel of land that he referred to as “the most attractive place on the entire coast”.  At first this man had laid down a tent city and right away built a house for himself and his family. It was his wife Ella who named it, Ella, called it “Del Mar” – words taken from a popular poem, The Fight on Paseo Del Mar.

Loop met a gentleman named “Colonel” Jacob Taylor who suggested they develop the area and build a town here. It was 1885 when he purchased 338.11 acres at the northern end of the mesa from homesteader Enoch Talbert. It is said that he paid $1,000. And at this, Del Mar was officially founded.
Taylor had a very clear picture in his mind of what the area was to become. His plan was for this to be a playground for the well to do, a seaside resort for the elite. The visionary designed and built a town whose focal point was Casa del Mar, a hotel-resort. Other town attractions included a natatorium, dancing pavilions, and a bathing pool extending from the beach out into the sea.In 1889 tragedy struck and the main attraction, the hotel, burnt down to the ground and so the town was left without it’s focal point. This together with the struggling economy left the small town in a dormant state for at least 15 years.

It was until the beginning of the 1900 when The South Coast Land Company hired a prominent Los Angeles architect, John C. Austin, to draw plans for a new hotel, the Hotel Del Mar. The hotel opened in 1910, and fulfilling the original plans for the area, the elegant hotel served as a magnet for Hollywood stars of the silent film days.

From 1912 till 1920 beautiful new homes began to appear around the new town and many of them soon became landmarks. Construction was halted in the 1930’s

Still it was during this time in 1933 when the search for a site to host the San Diego County Fair began. Ed Fletcher suggested that the 184 acre site in the San Dieguito Valley – just off the main highways and the Santa Fe Road – would be easily accessible and a perfect setting for a fairground.
It was on October 8, 1936 when the fair opened with an attendance of fifty thousand guests.

Bing Crosby made the Del Mar Turf Club a reality and Pat O’Brien became the Vice President. The Race track opened on July 3, 1937,and with it a new era began in Del Mar. The track was hailed as Bing’s Baby or Movieland’s Own Track. In 1938, Bing recorded the song that would open and close everyday of racing since those early days – Where the Turf Meets the Surf (click to listen to the song).

The race track brought A list celebrities and personalities every year, and many of them decided to set up homes in Del Mar, among them Lucy and Desi, Burt Bacharach and many others.

However during World war II the race track had to be closed and converted into a bomber tail assembly production facility until 1945 when racing returned to the the track.

The city of Del Mar was incorporated until 1959. During the following two decades everything was mostly quiet in the area. There was a growing movement of people in Del Mar whose goal was to beautify and maintain the open space, and it was at this time when the gorgeous Seagrove park with its grassy are overlooking the ocean was created.

Today the centerpieces of new Del Mar are L’Auberge – a beautiful hotel designed with the Stratford Inn in mind – and just recently renovated. And the elegant shops and boutiques of the picturesque seaside shopping center, Del Mar Plaza. Its selection of restaurants provides great taste, mood, and rave reviews.

Del Mar has maintained it’s picturesque main street, it’s small upscale town ambiance, with beautiful homes each one unique and different from the rest, some landmarks in their own right some brand new.

Today Del Mar Zip Code is 92014

For more detailed information you can visit my web site http://www.sandiegoexclusiveproperties.com/ or contact me by:
email info@sdexclusiveproperties
twitter www.twitter.com/rinapodolsky
facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=123662939207&ref=ts

You can even search properties in Del Mar just by going to our web site

All the information in this blog has not been checked, it is believed accurate but not guaranteed.

How is the Market? Understanding The Case Schilling Report – Rina Podolsky Carmel Valley Homes For Sale-

As a real estate agent I often come in contact with people who ask me, How is the market? followed by a statement, I just saw the latest report saying…. Although some people do get the idea behind what the numbers show, often times they have either taken that information to be a prediction or have trouble understanding what the numbers really mean. What they really want to know most of the time is;  is it the right time to buy? should I sell my home now or wait a bit? Is it the right market to invest?  So I thought I share with all of you a glimpse as to how and why you should interpret this indicators with care, specially because what happens to Real Estate in New York City is very different than what happens to Real Estate in Carmel Valley Real Estate or La Jolla Real Estate or Rancho Santa Fe Real Estate.

Case Schilling reported their numbers for the September behavior of the Market and it is calling it a “weak report” in fact they believe it is even weaker than last months report. However it is important to understand that they believe that this results are believed to be highly influenced by the end of the government’s incentive programs.  I believe this numbers were to be expected, many of the people who were ready to buy, did so in time to take advantage of all the government credits and incentives, pushing the number higher for several months. Another fact that might have influenced the numbers is the fact that the interest rates have been going down and people keep hearing of a new wave of foreclosures, and a possible second dip in home prices and because they have no time concerns after the credits expired, many people have gone back to sitting on the fences and waiting to have a clearer picture of how the market will be trending.

Another important fact to take into consideration is that Case Schilling is reporting what has happened in the past few months, since this report came out, there has been some better than expected numbers from different indicators, Wall Street broke to pre crash levels, unemployment has started to shift, the government has said it will be pumping 600 million to re-invest , consumer confidence is higher than expected and so are the results of gains of many of the large corporations.

I would like to point out that if you look at the graph, you can see that the 20 city index shows that the market is up above 2003 price levels. ” From their peak in June/July of 2006 through the trough in April 2009, the 10-City Composite is down 33.5% and the 20-City Composite is down 32.6%. Through September, they have recovered by +7.2%and +5.9%, respectively. The peak-to-date figures through September 2010 are -28.7% and -28.6%,respectively.” 

Lastly, Case Schilling is a snapshot of the country, taken from 10 or 20 cities, it is important to understand that each market behaves differently. For example, if you look at the local San Diego market, you see that it actually is showing a 5.0% GAIN from the 2009 levels, not a loss by any means and if you take it a step further you can see that even within San Diego, you have to look at each area separately, some have had bigger gains, some have shown a steadier path through the whole crisis and some have shown some losses in the last months. This is why it is very important to know what you are looking at and be careful when you interpret any charts or information to make decisions based on them. Be sure to always ask an expert.

If you would like to see more detailed information you can go to:  http://www.standardandpoors.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobheadername3=MDT-Type&blobcol=urldocumentfile&blobtable=SPComSecureDocument&blobheadervalue2=inline%3B+filename%3Ddownload.pdf&blobheadername2=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue1=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobheadername1=content-type&blobwhere=1245262947491&blobheadervalue3=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobnocache=true

Please feel free to contact us for any questions or you can go to our web site www.SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com

our facebook page : http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages&tid=457977665291#!/group.php?gid=123662939207

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Least Expensive Homes For Sale in Carmel Valley, San Diego -Rina Podolsky – San Diego Exclusive Properties-

I Have compiled a list of the Homes for Sale in Carmel Valley, including all neighborhoods such as Torrey Hills, Ashley Falls, Pacific Highlands Ranch, Etc. and selected the ones with the lowest price per square foot.

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Here is a quick Snapshot of the “Homes for Sale  market” in Carmel Valley, 92130 area.

There are:

• 164 Detached Homes for sale listed on the MLS as of today.
  • Lowest asking price per SF is $226.13. Highest is $812.79 which leaves an average selling price of $380.81
  • Lowest Priced Home is$535,000. Highest Priced Home is $7,695,000. Average price is $1,528,565

• 81 Attached homes for sale on the MLS.
  • Lowest asking price per SF is $283.16. Highest is $431.45 which leaves an average selling price of $354.97
  • Lowest Priced Home is$189,500. Highest Priced Home is $739,900 . Average price is $434,396.

Within the 92130 zip code, there are 3 school districts as far as elementary schools go. 2 for High School. Most homes in Carmel Valley are zoned for Del Mar School USD)  or Solana Beach School District (SBSD). Leaving only a few homes that are within the Poway School District designated Boundaries.

The homes within the Poway school District area, have been selling for less than those zoned for either of the other two Districts.

The homes that I have selected today are those that fall within the boundaries  of DMUSD or SBSD. And they have been selected for their asking price per S.F. Plain and simple.

Click on the pictures to display more detailed information on each of these homes.

1.

Santa Barbara Short Sale @ $252.17 per s.f.

2.-

Short Sale in Senterra @$277.13 per s.f

3.-

Rural Carmel Valley @ $278.27. Home built in 1905

4.-

Short Sale in Portico @ $280.32

5.-

Short Sale Watercolors @ $288.86

6.-

Watercolors @291.71 per S.F.

7.-

Torrey View @ $296.36 per S.F.

8.-

Seabreeze Farms @ $297.85

9.-

San Raphael @ $298.90

10.-

Bank Owned Stone Canyon @ $302.84

11.-

Belmont Short Sale @ $304.75

12.-

Breakers Short Sale @ $304.79

13.-

Short Sale in Rancho Pacifica @ $304.17 per S.F.

Even though the last home is not the least expensive one per S.F., this is a true SCREAMING DEAL! It is a Custom made home while most of the other homes in the area are what you call Track Homes, it is inside a very exclusive Gated Community.

If you want any information on any of these homes or on the trends of the local market, please contact us by going to our web site at www.SanDiegoExclusiveProperties.com we will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

If you want to make an appointment to view this or any other homes or if you would like to get together and talk about the value of your home please call us and we will arrange it.

San Diego 10 Most Expensive Homes For Sale!!! -Rina Podolsky Carmel Valley Home For Sale-

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Here is a look at the most expensive properties currently for sale in the SAN DIEGO area.

The homes were selected by asking price, not by price per s.f.

 

It is interesting to note that the list  is equally divided into 3 areas that are dominating the most expensive chart:

• 3 properties for sale in Rancho Santa Fe
• 3 properties for Sale in Del Mar
• 3 Properties for sale in La Jolla.

 

This homes, have been on the market for  an average of 338 days, ranging from 78  to 1,170 days listed

 

The average asking price per s.f.  is $5462.79. ranging from $1,335 to $17,191.78

 

Another area that is noteworthy although non of the properties for sale in Coronado did not make it to the list, if we extended the list to the top 20 we would certainly see a few homes in the Coronado market making it to the most expensive properties for sale list.

 

To view information on each one of this homes, click on each of the images.

 If you would like more information on any of these or other homes s well as more data and statistics, please contact us, we will be happy to assist you!

 

 

 



 

$18,000,000 to $21,000,000

Rancho Santa Fe 5,487 sf $21,000,000

Del Mar 2,885 sf $21,000,000

Rancho Santa Fe 12,889 sf $21,950,000

La Jolla 11,000 sf $25,000,000

Carlsbad 10,000 sf $29,000,000

La Jolla 10,000 sf $$29,950,000

Rancho Santa Fe 3,000 sf $29,950,000

Del Mar 6,551 sf $39,000,000

Del Mar 10,164 sf $61,000,000

The information fron this post is appromiate and was based on MLS data. Should be checked by buyer.

Now What? The foreclosure halt and its consequences explained

First it was GMAC halting foreclosures in 23 states, then JP Morgan Chase said it will delay the process of more than 56,000 foreclosure proceedings and from there all the way to Bank Of America announcing last week that it was pausing foreclosure proceedings in all 50 states while they review the process and paperwork for “defects”.

Today it was announced that California will be joining a task force created as a multi-state inquiry into foreclosures.

All this comes when it seemed like foreclosures where starting to ease up.

But what is this latest crisis all about. What is it that the banks are corned with at this point of the game?

Lets start by a quick explanation of the life of a mortgage .

Once a mortgage is created, it does not usually stay with the bank or institution that originated it. Mortgages will change hands several times through its life span. When a mortgage gets sold and changes hands the new owners have to get an “assignment”  from the buyers. An assignment is a document signed by both buyer and seller acknowledging the sale of the loan, this note has to be attached to all other documents and delivered to the new owner.

It gets a little more complicated from here. Many mortgages are the “securitized” this means that it get pooled in with a a large number of other mortgages by an investment firm and becomes part of a pool of mortgages that will be sold off in slices to different investors as an investment vehicle. Then someone is assigned with being the one in charge of properly dividing the money that comes in from the monthly mortgage payments and also of foreclosing on the ones that have stopped paying. This person is called the “servicer” . When a mortgage is securitized, what happens to the note, who gets the note? Neither the investor nor the servicer gets this note or assignment, not even the investment vehicle has the assignment, instead they go to a repository company and the transfer is noted in an electronic base.

So where did the break down occur? well, at the height of the mortgage wave, Notes were coming in at such a fast pace and paperwork was not being filed, revised or monitored. This was the barely -doc to no-doc era and so paperwork was more of an afterthought in many cases and this lack of concern went from the origination of the loan all the way to all the transfers.

Making matters even more complicated is the  fact that some of the institutions went under or were acquired by larger ones.

You might ask, how does dis impact the foreclosures and why if that had been happening for all this years, why the halt now?

Well, there were warning signs and some people did raise their concerned voices but they were not paid attention to, probably because the crisis  and the bubble burst seemed so large and that was the main concern, so it was until  Jeffrey Stephan a loan officer for GMAC admitted in a deposition to the signing of about 10,000 foreclosure proceedings per month for five years straight without reviewing the paperwork properly, that serious cracks in the process were revealed in a very public way that caught so many people’s attention and brought forth a probe into  GMAC (Ally) foreclosure proceedings starting a chain reaction to other banks since Jeffreys signed foreclosures for other institutions as well.

Initially the halt was done in 23 states that had what is called Judicial foreclosures. This means, that their foreclosure process, requires the lender to go through a court process and file a claim and turn in the appropriate paperwork which includes  a sworn and notarized affidavit of a loan officer and submit the mortgage documents.

Often, however, judges will issue foreclosure orders without the mortgage documents so long as the borrower doesn’t contest this point.Once the do this the get the court approval to move ahead with the foreclosures.

As I said not all states require this, some states, like California, do not need to get a court approval in order to complete a foreclosure. So the first states where the pause was enacted where those where the bank had to initiate a court process and had been required to turn in paperwork which in many cases was nowhere to be found, so how could they have foreclosed with court approval without all of the paperwork in order?

In many cases the foreclosures were not contested by anyone and so in those cases the banks went ahead and foreclosed even with the missing assignment documents, but in some other cases there are allegations of banks  and evidence has been produced to show that notarizations have been faked, documents forged.

Even though the situation looks worse in judicial states because there is forgery that was sent to court involved, this dies not exempt the other states from misdoings so, that is why the halt was extended in many cases to all 50 states.

In many cases, the notes do exist it will just take a big effort to find them and complete this files propperly. So this might sound like it is simply a case of paying to much attention to a paper trail. However, the fact that all this got through the banks, that there are allegations of forgery and in many cases there simply are no notes or assignments, this has the potential to become a huge mess.

There is lawsuit written all over this one from so many sides that it will look like lawyers playing fields.

Homeowners who have been paying their mortgage regularly are wanting to make sure the one they are paying actually owns the note, and if it turns out they don’t, well they will be suing for money paid to an institution that had no rights. Now there are those who properly securitize the loan and did not get the assignment note, they are looking into lawsuits from investors because tis bonds usually include a representation and warranties that the bank has obtained all documentation related to the mortgages included in the loan.

Without going into detail on this one, there is also a problem between senior and junior liens, and when the froze the foreclosure process, senior leans are responsible to pay junior liens some money even when the mortgage is not bringing in any, until this mortgage is foreclosed, so this puts senior liens in a delicate position.

And then, what happens if a note is never found? who owns that mortgage? Is the homeowner free and clear? who is he supposed to make payments to? If they stop making payments, who will have the right to foreclose?

Now let’s take it a step further. What will happen with all those people whose home was foreclosed and sold? If they come after the bank and actually prove that the foreclosure was improperly done? Their home was already sold, there is a new owner who might be facing a legal battle he did not sign up for.

Finally, if this situation takes a year to correct, once the halt is lifted, we will find ourselves with a wave of foreclosures that had been accumulating instead of slowly coming into the market at a regular pace, how will this new flood be absorbed by a weakened market?

 

 

Since the news on this one broke I have also been hearing some homeowners not currently in default that are not happy to hear that so many people will be living rent/mortgage free for a year (or two) while they are doing things correctly.

We should be paying attention to this one closely!

Carlsbad School Shooting. Lessons to be learned?

The breaking news came in and what I heard was one of parents worst nightmares. To hear that a local elementary school had been the victim of such  a violent act. On Friday October 8, 2010, A single gun shooter jumped the fence at the campus of Kelly Elementary in the Carlsbad area and began shooting at the kids.

The gunman managed to hit two second grade girls, 6 and 7 years old, they were both shot in the arm and both were eventually flown to Rady Children’s Hospital and are expected to recover fully from the gun wounds. But what about the mental scars that these kids, all of the kids that lived thru this ordeal will carry with them?

This was a case of a horrible situation with the best possible ending thanks to both construction workers who were working on a campus project and reacted bravely and quickly and to the fact that the gunman was a poor shooter and did not reload.

For many of us the question remains, can incidents like this one be prevented? are our school campuses too easy to access and a prime target for anyone who wants to make a statement or who looses their sanity?

First of all, everyone who knows something about securing an institution will tell you that if someone wants to seriously target any school, will find a way to do so, even if the campus was a closed off institution. Not only would it be very costly to re-design our schools and add security to each and every one, it might prove to be a deterrent but not a unusrpassable solution. And of course there is the matter of the cost of doing all this at a time where there are no funds available to keep teachers in the school roster, much less pay for everything that this would require.

Now, it is also true that new schools are still being built and many of them pay little regard to school safety from an intrusion point of view, so if we are building new schools, I believe we should be trying to make them as safe as possible from the get-go.

There should also be an assessment of the current schools to see if there are small steps that can be taken in each case to help prevent at any rate, an intrusion scenario.

However, I believe that the most important action we can take at this point is training. We need to train people on campus as well as students on how to react if such a scenario were to occur. Unfortunately, most schools do not have construction work being done at all times which means they wont all have well fit, willing and able construction workers to come to the rescue. And it should not be left up to chance to see if someone happens to be there that can aid the children.

We as parents need to prepare our kids as well and make sure that they know how to react in bad situations such as this one. We need to sit down with our children and discuss what happened and what they should do in a similar case. Many time we ourselves don’t know what is the right way to react so we need to get the school district to put such training and information out there so that it is available for everyone. We need to work as a community, keeping a constant eye out for things and people who may seem out-of-place or out-of-order in and around our schools and we have to let the authorities know immediately.

So going back to my question, are s to be learned from this incident? My answer is yes, in every incident there are always lessons to be learned. In this particular one I would say the most important ones are to be aware of our surroundings, be prepared, make sure the children are also aware and prepared and to work as a community.

If you would like to read the complete story on the School Shooting you can find it at http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/oct/08/carlsbad-police-respond-to-reports-of-shots-at-a-s/

If you have any comments, feedback is always welcome