Check out this East Village Condo at Smart Corner. Click PLAY below.

The next on our list of 92101 neighborhoods is the Marina District. The Marina District is one of Downtown San Diego’s most beautiful and desirable neighborhoods and stretches from the Waterfront and Seaport Village to the shopping of Horton Plaza and the border of the Gaslamp District. 

City Front Terrace had the most Resales with 27 total for ‘08. Pinnacle followed up with 19.

Comparitively, there were few REO sales in this neighborhood; the most seen in a single complex was 4. The buildings with 4 REO sales were Atria, Horizons and Renaissance.

Again, comparitive to Resales there were few Foreclosure sales in the Marina District. The most seen in a complex was 4, at Renaissance. 

There were no Developer sales in the Marina District in 2008.

As we post more neighborhood charts, like us, you will probably note that the Marina District has faired pretty well compared to other Downtown San Diego neighborhoods. This has a lot to do with the Marina District’s well established history in the 92101 zip code.

Now that we’ve given you a breakdown of Developer, REO and Foreclosure sales in the entire 92101 zip code, it’s time to dive in a little deeper and check out the numbers for each neighborhood individually. We’re starting this portion of our report with East Village and its 22 complexes.

Icon accounted for the highest Resales in the East Village with 13 sales total in ‘08. Union Square followed that up with 10. 

Union Square found itself faced with the most REO sales at 12 total. Coming in individually with 6 REO sales each were M2i, Park Boulevard East and Park Boulevard West. 

Alta led the way in Developer sales with 44 total in all of ‘08. The closest runner up was Icon with 29.

Lastly, Metrome saw the most Foreclosure sales with 6, followed up by Union Square with 5.

Complexes, currently promoted on our site, with neither a Foreclosure nor REO sale in ‘08 were Alta, Smart Corner, and the Legend.

The above graph delves even deeper into 2008 Downtown Condo and Loft sales by disecting the type of sales by month. 

January of ‘08 saw the biggest number of Developer sales at just above 90. February decreased to just above 80, and the biggest drop all year was between February and March declining all the way to just above 40. While Developer sales led the pack to begin with, we saw a drop of sales below REO’s and Resales twice in ‘08. They did, however, end the year in the lead but well within reach of REO’s and Resales.

As stated in a previous 92101 blog 2008 Types of Downtown Sales, 2008 was the last year that we’ll see any new residential development in the 92101 area code until at least 2012. This could be a major contributor as to why Developer sales were at their highest when these projects were in their initial sales stages.

Resales began the year at just above 30 sales and saw an average incline throughout the remainder of the year, with a minor decline in June. Beginning in September, Resales began to slowly decline through December.

REO’s, on average, saw an increase. Declines occurred in March and August and through the months  of October and December.

Just a brief follow up to the blog posted last week 2008 Breakdown of 92101 Neighborhoods by Sale Type the corresponding Pie Chart gives us a quick glimpse of the types of sales in all Downtown San Diego neighborhoods by type: Developer, REO and Resales.

Developer sales led the way with 43% of all sales, resales followed closely behind with 36% and REO (or bank owned sales) trailed at 21%.  2008 was the last year, until at least 2012, that we’ll see any new residential development in the 92101 area code. While places like Vantage Point, Sapphire and Bayside are still in stages of construction completion there will be no new construction for at least 4 years. This being said, these numbers will begin to change in 2009, hopefully with resales topping the charts and sales from REO’s and foreclosures at a minimum.

It’s Thursday afternoon, your phone hasn’t stopped ringing since 8 a.m. Monday morning, you’re pleading for the weekend to come already. Sound familar? Lucky you, Happy Hour at The Glass Door comes everyday from 3pm - 7pm. So even if you find yourself on a Wednesday, Tuesday (or even Monday) afternoon in need of a cocktail then this is the place for you.

The Glass Door is found at atop the Porto Vista Hotel at 1835 Columbia Street in Little Italy. It’s just a short walk from places like Doma, La Vita or Village Walk.

Their “Sunset Happy Hour” consists of drinks like Passion or Lust Sangrias (um, yum), Fresh Mojitos, House Wines, Domestic and Premium Beers, or Cabo Wabo Margaritas, anyone? Between sips, snack on treats such as Spring Rolls, Kobe Sliders, Truffled Pomme Frites or Calamari Fritti.

Oh ya, The Glass Door also offers Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner and late night dining.

Enjoy! We know we will.

Many, many thanks to our friends over at First American Title, Tammy Neylan and Yadida Black, for putting together some very viable graphs charting sales in the 92101 area code. Above you will find a breakdown of 6 neighborhoods by type of sale: Resale, REO, Developer and Foreclosure. This chart follows up on our ongoing commitment to bring the latest statistics affecting sales and purchasing in Downtown San Diego.

Just a recap: the Marina District leads the way with 140 resales in 2008 which makes up 36% of all resales in the Downtown market. Next in line is the East Village with 82 resales at a percentage of 21%. These rates are pretty congruent with the types of buyers and sellers we’ve represented even in the last few months alone.

Leading the way with REO, Real Estate Owned or “Bank Owned”, properties is the Little Itlay neighborhood with 69, or 31% of the entire REO market in 2008. Not far behind is the East Village with 54, or 24%.

As construction would suggest the Columbia District led the way with Developer sales at a rate of 44%, or 205 total. This due to the developments like Sapphire and Bayside. There were no Developer sales in The Gaslamp or Marina neighborhoods because these areas are already fully developed.

Finally, we see the most sales due to foreclosure in the East Village neighborhood with 33 total at 26%. Closely behind is Little Italy wth 30 or 24%.

It’s our hope that this graph, along with the others we will be posting in the following weeks, will assist our buyers and our sellers in making the most well educated decisions regarding the purchase or sale of a new Downtown Condo or Loft.

MDA, Data Quick, a real estate tracking firm, reported Monday that the median home price in a six-county region of SoCal was $278,000 last month, compared to $425,000 in December of 2007.

In addition, foreclosures accounted for 55.7 percent of December’s sales in Southern California. Inversely, home sales rose steadily as eager buyers took advantage of these record low prices.

 Our take? We’ve seen prices drop, aboslutely. But, sellers are still selling and this has created an ideal situation for those wishing to purchase a Downtown San Diego Condo or Loft at a discounted price.

 See the entire article at NBC San Diego.com.

It finally happened, what we’ve all (well mostly all) have been anticipating for months… the Inauguration of Barack H. Obama, the first African American President of the United States of America.

We’ve officially seen history in the making as the 44th President of our country was sworn in today; and for that we must celebrate! There are numerous locations in Downtown San Diego commemorating this marked day of our nation’s tale:

W Hotel San Diego - SD Young Democrats, 7:30pm - 1:30am., Little Italy

BareBack Grill, 5pm - 9pm, Pacific Beach

Hilton San Diego Bayfront, evening, South Embarcadero. A newly opened hotel with an approximate 1,016 room total with 35% open, a Starbucks, a Fox Sports Restaurant to come, and a new ferry landing dock.

East Village Tavern & Bowl, all evening, East Village

On Broadway, 8pm - ?, Columbia

UltraStar Del Mar Highlands, 8am - Noon, Del Mar

Sea Rocket Bistro, 5pm - 8pm, North Park

 For a complete list visit San Diego Magazine’s site.

One of the amazing things about living Downtown is getting to experience innovation at its finest. 92101 Urban Living is located in the East Village and just steps away from one of the most innovative workout spots we’ve seen to date, Club Motivate.

Taken directly from their press release, “Club Motivate’s 3,500 square foot space houses two distinct machines: the Reflex disc, a passive oscillating platform used in a 10 minute session, and the ROM, an intense aerobic machine used in a four minute workout.” Wait a second, a 14 minute workout? Sign us up!

But, even better, the coolest thing about Club Motivate is in the name… Motivation; and who doesn’t need a little motivation at the beginning of the New Year? Lucky for us, Club Motivate has teamed up with an amazing group by the name of Rock Cancer C.A.R.E. for a 2009 Health and Well-Being fundraising event.

The event hopes to spark and encourage living a healthy lifestyle all while raising awareness and funds for a very deserving organization. Rock Cancer C.A.R.E.’s mission is to help those who are affected by cancer. They pay co-payments for treatment, accompany people to doctor and chemo appointments, help with grocery shopping, grief counseling, child care and much, much more.

The event will take place Saturday, February 7, 2009 from 1-5p.m. Club Motivate is located in Downtown San Diego in the East Village at 1060 J Street, San Diego, CA 92101.

Activities will include drawings for prizes such as a Good Year Blimp Ride for 6, Local and Far Away Getaways, Sports Memorabilia, Spa Treatments and MUCH, MUCH MORE! There will also be food samplings from local restaurants, live music and fitness equipment demonstrations.

Jacque Garner, President of The Queen of Hearts Foundation (A co-partner with the Rock Cancer C.A.R.E.) has all the information you need to participate at whatever capacity you’re able. Jacque can be reached at 858-354-3938 or Jacque_garner@yahoo.com.

So, what are you waiting for? Get involved! Walk down to Club Motivate on February 7 from your Marina District, Little Italy, or Gaslamp condo and join us for a motivating day! What a great way to get your 2009 New Years Resolution off on the right foot… by taking care of others in your community and taking care of you.