Real Estate Report for July (Updated)

The real estate market remains slow to normal…April 2004 to April 2005 has shown a 6% increase in the 92026 zip code, and that is compared to 9% county-wide.

Here in the Meadows, sales are slower than normal for this time of year, but our Rancho Bernardo office is booming so I still hold hope for the Meadows.

I did an interesting analysis of the LISTED value of homes in dollar per square feet, just for grins. This analysis shows that we are still undervalued and I believe thi is the result of our relative distance from population centers and jobs – and the obviously attractive Poway Unified School District.

$/square feet
290.40 Hidden Meadows
354.85 Rancho Bernardo 92128
437.60 North Poway
627.75 Rancho Bernardo (92127)

Escondido has a caravan and "pitch session" every week – and they had more than 25 price reductions in one week a few weeks ago. The Meadows has a number of listings that the owner does not need to sell, so price reductions in the Meadows have been a bit slow in coming. Sellers have not yet realized that the market is cool and if they want to sell they must accept something lower than the price they expected when they priced their home in the middle of the hot market.

Part of the problem may be that agents with offices outside of the Meadows have a higher expectation of value because their home area sells more quickly – and they recommend a higher value to the Meadows Seller, who happily accepts the higher value. All of that works well – until the home does not sell!

The two homes on Rim road remain the best "deals" in the Meadows…but even they have not sold.

Mountain Meadow Road Median Strip

The Hidden Meadows Community Foundation has applied for a $63,000 grant from SANDAG to beautify the center divide on Mountain Meadow Road.

With luck there will be an answer within three weeks.

Because there are County rules to be met, the costs of repair are high, for example $13,000 for sprinklers and another $13,000 for a berm to protect the sprinklers.

Faye Elliott has been on this program from the inception of the problem, and she hopes for a quick resolution. She has raised almost half the money necessary from Meadows donations, and the Meadows can provide matching funds if SANDAG makes that a requirement.

New Nursery Business in The Meadows

Some of the businesses in the Meadows are well-known, but a lot are far less known. One of the newer businesses is a "Cactus Farm" on 8.44 acres on Kiwi Meadow Lane.

FarWest Nursery in Hidden Meadows, 9655 Kiwi Meadows Lane is owned by Brandon Bullard of that same address. Brandon has been growing cacti and succulents for 17 years with his business partner, Jay Jackson.

Brandon and his family will soon be living on the property. He specializes in drought tolerant plants including not just cacti and succulents but euphorbias and he also has over 20 varieties of aloes available. Brandon has landscaping design and installation available, and his nursery us open by appointment only.

Brandon can be reached at 760-594-2330.

June 6 Real Estate Update

Just as you can’t predict the temperature in El Cajon by looking at a newspaper account of the temperature in San Diego, which is measured by the water at Lindbergh Field, so too you can’t judge the real estate sales in Hidden Meadows by reading what is happening elsewhere. The Meadows has its own microclimate, both in weather and in real estate sales activity.

The Meadows is still lagging the general San Diego market, and our inventory continues to remain higher than one would expect at this time of year. Since mortgage rates have still not increased above historic lows, the only answer must be price resistance. That may not be an altogether bad thing, and I predict that it signals a moderation in price increases rather than a real estate bubble.

Traffic is starting to pick up but if the market does turn around it will leave us with a relatively short selling season.