Questions Now, Answers Later

Published: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 5:09 PM PST

E-MAIL STORY

I apologize for how sparse it's been here in Survival lately. I'm up to my neck in a project (housing-related, as opposed to last spring's opus on political consulting and the extraordinary life of a well-traveled San Diego son, George Gorton).

But I've noticed some great questions you've been asking in e-mails and in the comments. (Woo, comments!)

Gman seeks a breakdown by neighborhood of foreclosure filings. Mac wants to see more of the micro-market reporting and not just the countywide numbers, like in our Neighborhood Market stories. stephen mccamman seeks to understand what the market would've looked like without the meteoric appreciation of a few years ago. A few readers have e-mailed me this week to ask if they're crazy for thinking of buying instead of renting (like in today's Wall Street Journal story, which discusses the shrinking gap between the cost of renting and buying in some markets nationwide).

So here's your chance. Post a comment below, and help dictate what stories I write in the coming weeks after I wrap up my project. Ask your questions, help answer each other's, and I'll chime in as much as I can. And you can always drop me a line via e-mail: kelly.bennett@voiceofsandiego.org.

-- KELLY BENNETT

More from Survival in San Diego

5 Comments so far on this story...

Two questions: 1. The housing stats divide homes into three "tiers" based on price. But I'm not clear on how these stats deal with homes that have fallen from one tier to another. If a house that last sold for $400,000 sells this month for $225,000, how do the tiers deal with this? 2. The story you linked to from the North County Times a few days ago quoted Christopher Thornberg as saying that home prices had an additional 25-30% further to drop before hitting the bottom of the market. It wasn't clear from the article whether Thornberg was referring to Southern California at large, or SD specifically. But everything else I've been reading seems to suggest that SD has a more moderate 5-10% further to fall, and that the bottom of the market should be reached near the end of 2009. Is there any meaningful consensus on this?

Posted by erik | reply to this comment
February 25, 2009 8:21 pm

Figures don't lie, but liars can figure. A profile of who buyers are, and what income categories they are in would be nice. Also a profile of the motivation to buy in this environment. Is it fear of missing the next up leg, ignorance about where prices are headed, or just plain old optimism that it can't get any worse. Josh

Posted by Josh | reply to this comment
February 26, 2009 9:41 am

What's with all the foundation problems in the 92116 and 92104 area codes? My husband and I have looked at 20 houses in the area all around $300K and 18 of those had foundation problems. Is this an issue related to long overdue repairs or are homes in that area just doomed to sink into the ground?

Posted by Michelle | reply to this comment
February 27, 2009 6:42 am

I can only give you a personal story regarding my 92116 next door neighbors. About five years ago they went to sell the house. They had a buyer who fell out of escrow when a particular inspector said there were foundation problems. They contacted a civil engineer to look at it and give an estimate for repair or actually repair so they could sell the home. The engineer, an expert in the field, told the neighbors that the inspector didn't know what he was talking about and was willing to certify the condition of the foundation. Based on that they were able to sell and our new neighbors have had no problems.. I believe several of the inspectors are not competent to judge the condition of a foundation. They may honestly misinterpert signs or they may be in cahots with some contractor.

Posted by Anne | reply to this comment
March 7, 2009 5:45 am

Would it be possible to focus a bit more on specific, on-the-ground information (i.e a survey of foreclosures in a neighborhood) instead of endless statistic crunching and median values, charts and graphs?

Posted by mlee | reply to this comment
February 27, 2009 8:37 am

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