Housing statistics

San Diego’s Housing Crisis - Statistics and Trends

The following statistics paint a stark picture of the growing housing crisis in San

Diego and throughout California. Soaring housing prices and rents are becoming

out of reach for most San Diegans – a reality that negatively impacts the region’s

economy as well as its residents’ quality of life.

For-Sale Homes Out of Reach

• San Diego’s high housing prices, coupled with its relatively low wages, make it the 6th least affordable major metropolitan area in the country. (National Association of Home Builders, 4th quarter 2006)

• The minimum annual household income first-time buyers need to purchase a median-priced home at $472,000 in San Diego is about $100,000. (San Diego Metropolitan, 3/07; California Association of Realtors)

• The average monthly mortgage payment in San Diego – including taxes and insurance – is $3,330. (San Diego Metropolitan, 3/07; California Association of Realtors)

• There were 1,621 home mortgage foreclosures in San Diego County during 2006, compared to 212 in 2005, a jump of 665 percent. (The San Diego Union-Tribune, 2/27/07; DataQuick Information Systems)

San Diego’s Purchase Prices

Overall median home price (new and resale, attached and detached) . .$472,000

Average price of a new detached home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$835,794

Single-family resale home median price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $540,000

Resale condo median price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $380,000

Median price for newly-built houses, condos and condo conversions . . $395,000

National median home price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$220,000

(The San Diego Union-Tribune, 2/15/07; DataQuick Information Systems; MarketPointe Realty; National Association of Realtors)

Rents Are Rising

• The minimum annual income needed to afford a one-bedroom apartment in San Diego is $48,200. (The San Diego Union-Tribune, 1/10/07; National Housing Conference Center for Housing Policy, “Paycheck to Paycheck”)

• Rents are up and vacancies are low as renters who cannot afford to buy homes remain as tenants and hope for prices to fall. Average rents for all types of units increased 5.8 percent over the previous year to $1,237, a nearly 100 percent increase from 1992’s average rent of $643. (The San Diego Union-Tribune, 1/16/07; San Diego County Apartment Association)

• Renters be warned: Landlords are expected to raise apartment rents for a third-straight year in 2007, forcing tenants to turn over a growing chunk of their pay and making it harder to save for a home. (USA Today, 2/23/07; National Association of Residential Real Estate Investment Advisors)

How the Cost of Housing Impacts Employment and Commuting

• “Folks with kids who hope to be homeowners one day are leaving the area. Tenants will move farther and farther out, creating more and more pressures on employers and jobs and traffic,” says Sue Reynolds, president of Community Housing Works, a lender and developer of affordable housing. (The San Diego Union-Tribune, 6/5/07)

• “Companies often rely on the desirability of San Diego itself as an incentive to attract new employees. But it doesn’t always work. At a certain point, sunshine just can’t pay for housing,” says Tad Seth Parzen of Parzen Consulting. (The Daily Transcript, 9/6/07)

• College grads seeking their first jobs might want to consider moving east to places such as Knoxville, Tennessee, or Kokomo, Indiana, rather than focusing on San Diego or Los Angeles, based on the results of a recent cost of living survey. (San Diego Business Journal, 7/7/06)

• County-to-county commuting has become especially pronounced in recent years in San Diego as thousands of aspiring home buyers headed to Riverside communities such as Temecula and Murrieta in search of more affordable places to live. (The San Diego Union-Tribune, 8/30/06; U.S. Census Bureau)

• About 13 percent of the work force earns less than $8.35 per hour, according to the San Diego Association of Governments. New professionals are among those who have a hard time affording to live in San Diego, and may be tempted to move elsewhere to buy better housing with their salaries. (The Daily Transcript, 9/6/06)

Updated  March 21, 2007