Downtown San Diego has the last couple of months seen developer sales come to an end and therefore having resale’s take over a big part of the inventory. As of today, 178 Downtown San Diego Condos and Downtown San Diego Lofts are for sale. Even though we are experiencing a super low number of inventory the number of sales has increased since the beginning of the year. The graph above is showing us that 51 homes were sold in January, 68 in February and 85 in March. It is hard to believe that the first quarter of the year is already over.  The average sale price jumped up 23% to $472,696 fueled by 6 properties selling over 1 Million in March.  Cash buyers remain strong, accounting for 48% of the transactions for the month.  Short sales doubled from 11 in February to 22 in March and resale transactions are holding strong at 49%.

Other very informative blogs showing statistics of the Downtown San Diego Real Estate market can be found by clicking Downtown San Diego Condos & Lofts Sold – Cash vs. Financing in February 2012 and Downtown San Diego Condos & Lofts Sold by Type of Sale 2011.

The Daily Real Estate News featured an article, “Low-ball Offers a Thing of the Past?”, showcasing the fact that the Real Estate Market received a lot of low-ball offers in 2011. The numbers of low-ball offers are turning around and buyers are now offering a purchase price closer to the asking price.

Low-ball offers were pretty common in Downtown San Diego in the year of 2011. The 2012 market is showing that low-ball offers have reduced drastically. A survey completed by the National Association of Realtors state the fact that 10% out of 4,500 Realtors complained about low-ball offers in 2011 compared to no complaints in 2012. One reason could be that Downtown San Diego currently has a very low inventory of homes on the market with only 175 Downtown San Diego Condos and Downtown San Diego Lofts currently for sale. Many sellers are trying to price their homes realistically to produce offers close to the listing price. Downtown San Diego Real Estate buyers might think that they can get away with a low-ball offer, but it will most likely get rejected, countered or taken out by a competing offer.

Downtown San Diego has some of the most scenic and beautiful views in all of Southern California while still having a bustling urban atmosphere with sunshine for most of the year. Investors wanting to change to a warmer climate would be hard pressed to purchase a better investment than Downtown San Diego Real Estate, and according to a 2011 survey, many people are doing just that.

According to the article “Investors, vacation dwellers stimulate home buying activity” on HousingWire.com, a study by the National Association of Realtors was done in 2011 regarding the buying and selling of investment and vacation homes. Due to low housing prices, low interest rates, and an unusually high amount of short sales, closed transactions on investment properties peaked last year. Investment properties sold last year showed the highest amount of sales since 2005, growing by 64.5% from 2010. Investment and vacation home sales are also making up more of the total amount of sales being done. Vacation homes are up to 11% of all sales compared to 10% in 2010 while investment sales are up 27% as opposed to 17% in 2010. For the investor looking at Downtown San Diego Real Estate, whether it is a Downtown San Diego Condo or Downtown San Diego Loft, these figures should be very encouraging. With rents on the rise and the tourist season on the horizon, now may be the perfect time to invest in Downtown San Diego properties.

The graph above is showings us the average sale price for Downtown San Diego Condos and Downtown San Diego Lofts for January compared to February of 2012. Downtown San Diego is starting to see an increase in the average sale price. As you can see, Februry’s sale price is slightly higher compared to January’s sale price with about 2%.

To compare other 92101 Urban Living’s graphs and to read other Downtown San Diego Real Estate blogs click on Downtown San Diego Condos & Lofts Sold – Cash vs. Financing in February 2012 and Downtown San Diego Condos & Lofts Sold in February 2012.

As an overall industry standard, most lenders require you pay a 20% down payment. However there is an alternative for Downtown San Diego Condo and Downtown San Diego Loft homebuyers that require only 3.5% down. The Downtown San Diego Real Estate Market has 175 active homes available and out of these, 105 homes qualify for an FHA loan. Homebuyers see FHA loans as a perfect option as they come with a low down payment (usually around 3.5% of the purchase price) and they are also backed by a federal agency. Lending institutions has during the last couple of years lost a lot as they granted loans to current home owners that have not been able to pay their mortgage. From now on they are doing everything they can to curb the risk on approving new loans.

As a Downtown San Diego Real Estate investor one thing to be sure about before starting the home buying process is to make sure you are in good standing with credit disputers and have a good credit score. CNN Money is in their article “FHA to reject borrowers in minor credit disputes“ talking about a new rule that went into effect April 1st, 2012. If you want to qualify for an FHA loan, you can’t have current disputes over $1,000.

This new rule gives the homebuyer a couple of different choices; you can either pay everything in full, provide proof that you are in the process of paying off the debts, or dispute the loan with the creditor as well as providing documentation to the lender. If you qualify is up to the lender to decide; however, the lender does not have to support the decision or provide documentation of not qualifying someone in the dispute cases to FHA. If FHA decides not to back the loan, lenders will not be responsible for the term and loan amount.

Reviewing your credit report and to make sure to settle disputes and errors is an important factor to complete before purchasing a Downtown San Diego home. Homebuyers will need to handle their credit and financial records to be able to approve for a loan as government agencies and lenders are very cautious on whom they approve.

During these harsh economic times, distressed real estate such as foreclosures and short sales are something we see a lot of today in the Downtown San Diego Real Estate market. Millions of American, during the last couple of years, have not been able to keep up with their mortgage payments and have therefore lost their homes. Out of 173 active Downtown San Diego Condos and Downtown San Diego Lofts, 32 are either foreclosures or short sales. Some of the lowest priced units on the market are distressed properties but be aware, they might not be in the best condition.

Inman News is in their recent real state article “A purchase strategy for distressed real estate” giving you some tips on how to handle investments of distressed homes. Many of these homes come with a high price tag when it comes to repair costs. Most of these homes has been vacant for some time. One other concern would be lenders as they to include the risk of granting a loan due to property conditions. Some lenders out there would make you pay a premium for properties in poor condition. To be on the safe side, a home inspection would be essential as you really would like to make sure that you understand what you potential new home needs in term of repairs before making the deal. Even though you might get this new home of yours to a low price tag…it would be best to include a repair fund to make sure you get the new home up to date and livable.

To skip surprises make sure to perform as many inspections as possible. Downtown San Diego distressed properties can be some of the best priced homes on the market but they could also tend to cost more than expected.

Downtown San Diego has in the month of February 2012 showed the highest number of cash sales since 92101 Urban Living started tracking this data in the beginning of 2008.

With 57 percent cash sales of the total 68 Downtown San Diego Condos and Downtown San Diego Lofts sold…we as Downtown San Diego real estate specialist are impressed as many investors seem to come in with a lot of cash.

To read and compare other blogs about the Downtown San Diego Real Estate Market click on Downtown San Diego Condos & Lofts Sold in February 2012 and Downtown San Diego Condos & Lofts Sold by Price Range 2011.