Here’s a bit of an eye-popper when it comes to San Diego’s notoriously difficult real estate market.
Online residential real estate platform Redfin says private investors snapped up 26% of the country’s most affordable homes in the fourth quarter — the highest percentage since records have been kept.
This according to a news release just issued by the company.
In the city of San Diego, the number of investor purchases of affordable homes increased by nearly 5% in the quarter, to just over 25%.
According to Redfin, investors favor affordable homes because they cost less, “which is especially attractive when home prices and borrowing costs remain elevated.”
“And when housing affordability is this strained, there could be more potential for value increases in the lower price tier, meaning more potential for building equity,” Redfin said in the release.
The total supply of homes for sale in the U.S. fell 5.1% year over year in December.
It stayed far below pre-pandemic levels as most homeowners stayed put to avoid losing the rock-bottom mortgage rate they scored during the pandemic.
Nationally, Investors paid $453,271 for the typical home for sale in the quarter, up from $426,573 a year earlier.
The average price of a home bought by investors in San Diego was $915,000.
In neighboring Riverside County, investor purchases jumped 25% year over year. The average price of homes purchased by investors was $541,000.
In total, investors bought $32.3 billion worth of U.S. homes, down slightly from $33.6 billion a year earlier.
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Meanwhile, we have some positive — and negative — news about the relative values of the county’s residential real estate market.
Resales of condos and townhouses in San Diego County surged 6% from December and soared almost 12% from January compared to the previous year, according to data just out from the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors and its multiple listing service.
At the same time, single-family home purchases dipped 4% month-over-month and declined 5.5% year-over-year.
The median price of single-family resale homes rose 4% to $980,000, a 15% jump from the previous January.
The sales price of an attached home remained stable at $650,000 — 10% higher than in January 2023. The
Local Realtor President Spencer Lugash said he was pleased to see the data about the increase in attached property sales and he said he expected a similar trend for single-family homes.
He attributed his optimism to projected interest rate drops and the upcoming spring and summer seasons.
“We anticipate that this increase will soon be mirrored by a rise in sales of single-family homes, as buyers react to the projected interest rate drops and the transition into the spring and summer seasons,” he said.
The most expensive single-family property sold was a 2,380-square-foot home in Del Mar, which closed Jan. 9. The sale price was $18.5 million.
The 64-year-old oceanfront home features five bedrooms and seven baths.
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A Chula Vista inventor has developed a smart retractable tape measure, which could transform traditional measuring techniques, according to a news release from Pittsburgh, PA-based patent submission services provider InventHelp.
According to the release, the device cuts the need for making manual measurements and writing them down.
“I thought there could be a better way to take, store and transfer measurements using a tape measure,” the inventor said in the news release, so I invented the smart retractable tape measure.”
He said the design offers a time-saving alternative to writing down measurements and it could increase accuracy and convenience.”
The idea was submitted to InventHelp’s San Diego office.
The company said it has helped inventors obtain patents on more than 10,000 ideas and noted that many of the patented products are sold by leading stores, such as Home Depot, Amazon and Walmart.
The company’s San Diego office also said it helped a cake decorator provide patent services for a new device called the Cake Perfice, which increases the accuracy of assembling round cake layers.
The patent-pending invention offers an effective way to align cake disks. It squares and aligns any size, shape, and type of cake board when making multi-layered cakes.
As a result, it saves time and effort, and it ends guesswork and multiple adjustments, according to a claim in a news release.
The invention features a practical design that is easy to use so it is ideal for bakers and cake decorators.
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Privately held, Denver-based space station builder Voyager Space said it has been awarded a contract by Boeing Co.’s Millennium Space Systems to build 13 flight model star trackers and two engineering models.
The trackers will be built in San Diego, according to a news release.
According to the release, Voyager’s µSTAR-250 Star Tracker “represents the next generation of high-performance trackers.”
“Built to deliver precise situational awareness in space, including satellite attitude and rate determination, µSTAR-250’s reliability and radiation tolerance makes it ideal for long-duration missions in LEO, MEO, GEO and cislunar orbits,” according to the documents.
“This star tracker has accumulated thousands of hours of space flight heritage on a classified program.”
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San Diego-based direct lender Wilshire Quinn Capital said it has provided a $16.5 million refinance loan to a just-completed 36-unit apartment complex in Bankers Hill.
The project is located two blocks from Balboa Park and close to the downtown area.
According to a news release, the 25,000-square-foot property sits on a .23-acre lot and features street-level retail storefronts and 21 parking spaces.
Wilshire Quinn, a direct portfolio lender and debt fund manager, specializes in short-term bridge loans.
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Luxury hospitality rating website Forbes Travel Guide has recognized Avant at Rancho Bernardo Inn with a four-star restaurant rating.
According to Forbes, the only way to achieve a five-star, four-star or recommended rating is by earning it through an independent inspection process.
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Local credit union California Coast said its Cares Foundation has reached a major milestone, awarding more than $1 million in scholarships and grants to 800 individuals in San Diego and Riverside counties since 2015.
The foundation says it will award another $260,000 in scholarships and grants this year.
In 1929, San Diego teachers launched Cal Coast, which has since become the longest-serving financial institution based in the county.
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Finally…San Diego-based biotech startup 9amHealth, which is developing an app to provide patients with affordable medication targeting diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and hypertension, has raised $9.5 million in a Series A extension round led by investor The Cigna Group Ventures.
A recent survey by 9amHealth revealed that 48% of Americans are taking or want to take GLP-1 medications, with 20% willing to change jobs for coverage.
The GLP-1 medications were originally approved by the FDA for those patients having diabetes, but the commercial products, though pricey, have become wildly popular with general consumers seeking to lose weight without tackling troublesome diet plans.
Diabetes affects 11% and obesity 41.9% of the US population, according to a news release about the new investment.
9amHealth says it aims to provide affordable care and manage rising medication costs for patients and employers.
The funding will enable the company to expand access to care, improve health outcomes and add employees.
Tom York is a Carlsbad-based independent journalist who specializes in writing about business and the economy. If you have news tips you’d like to share, send them to tom.york@gmail.com.
