How will the wild fires affect San Diegos already faltering housing market?
The firestorms represent but the latest jolt to San Diego County’s once-vibrant real estate market. The disaster arrived in the wake of plummeting sales and record foreclosures, which last month rose 301 percent from year-ago levels, according to a recent report released by DataQuick. With more than 20,000 resale homes on the market in San Diego County and a public that’s less than enthusiastic about buying, it’s hard to say what effect the fires could have on sales in the short term, said Roni Telmosse, former president of the San Diego Association of Realtors. Analyst John Karevoll of DataQuick Information Systems pointed out that while San Diego home defaults and foreclosures during the third quarter of this year hit a record high, the year-over-year increase remains well below the rate in inland Riverside and San Bernardino counties, which have been hit especially hard by the mortgage meltdown.
