A community within the city of San Diego, Mission Beach, California, lies on the Pacific Ocean‘s shores and covers two miles of oceanfront property. The community has a very laid-back atmosphere and it is a popular weekend destination for those in the surrounding area, with a boardwalk running along the beach and the community stretching to the popular Mission Bay Park to the east. Because of its prime location along the ocean’s shores, Mission Beach real estate is some of the more expensive real estate in the San Diego area and it homes here are highly coveted.

During the year 2009, there were 137 resell single-family homes sold in Mission Beach and 231 resell condos. Combined, there were 396 residential properties sold for the year. The median price of single-family homes was $750,000, down 3% from 2008, and the median price for condos was $402,500, down around 10% from 2008. Overall, the median price for all types of residential homes in Mission Beach in 2009 was $514,000, down 11% from a year earlier.

More recently, Mission Beach homes for sale have actually shown the slightest improvement in pricing. During the month of March, according to the San Diego Union Tribune monthly zip code sales chart, there were 12 single-family homes sold for a median price of $730,000, up an ever so slight 0.7% year-over-year. The condo market, however, showed more signs of a continued struggle. There were 16 condos sold during the month for a median price of $267,500, a decline of nearly 32% annually. Additionally, there were four newly constructed homes sold for a median price of $352,500. In total, there were 32 residential properties sold in Mission Beach in March for a median price of $427,500, down 17% from March 2009.

According to DQNews.com, many cities, including Santa Barbara, are beginning to post increases in home sales and slower declines in the median price of home sales.  In fact, October experienced the smallest decline in median home prices since 2007, primarily due to a smaller inventory of foreclosed and distressed properties on the market.  The median price for a home in Southern California was $280,000, up 1.8 percent from the previous month but down 6.7 percent from the previous year.  Some regions near Santa Barbara are even beginning to experience year over year gains in the overall median home price.  In October of 2009, about 22,000 new and resale houses and condos were sold in Southern California, which was a 2.8 percent increase from the previous month and also a 2.8 percent increase form the previous year.  October also marked the 16^th consecutive month ending in a year over year gain in home sales.  Experts also believe that the federal tax credit for first time home buyers has also been a major factor in the increase in home sales, as well as affordable mortgage rates and home prices.

The Pacific Coast Business Times also reports that real estate experts forecast that the Santa Barbara real estate market will rebound in the coming months as signs show that the market has already hit bottom.  Declining foreclosure rates will play a major role in the improvement of median home prices.  However, experts still believe that the commercial real estate market has a longer way to come, given that the market is still struggling with a 13.3 percent vacancy rate and virtually nonexistent construction activity.

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