So, what else is new?
San Diego has moved up the ranks of a listing of U.S. metro areas that have reached the status of having “million-dollar” cities — those where the typical home is now worth $1 million or more.
This information comes from a new Zillow analysis.
The real estate mega-website says there are now 550 individual cities that can boast the distinction of having million-dollar homes.
And the San Diego region has moved up the ladder. We now have 10 million-dollar cities compared to just seven a year ago.
California is now home to 210 million-dollar cities, more than the next five states combined.
The San Francisco Bay Area had 69 million-dollar cities, tops among metro areas in the state. Los Angeles had 63.
The state of New Jersey has added the most million-dollar cities over the past year with the addition of 14 new cities to the list.
Zillow said low inventory is keeping competition high and home values rising.
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The steady increase of million-dollar homes accounts for the increasing size of down payments.
The median down payment for U.S. homebuyers was $55,640 in February, according to a new report from Redfin, the technology-powered real estate brokerage.
That’s up 24.1% from $44,850 a year earlier — the largest annual increase in percentage terms since April 2022.
And San Diego was among the metro areas having with biggest increases in down payment amounts, with the median down payment jumping nearly 50% year over year.
This was the second-largest increase among the metros areas Redfin analyzed in its study.
The median down payment in San Diego was 20% of the purchase price.
More than a -third of U.S. home purchases in February were made with all cash, up from 33.4% a year earlier, Redfin said in its analysis.
That’s just shy of the 34.8% decade-high hit in November, and close to the record high of 38% reached in 2013.
San Diego didn’t come close to the average. Nearly 22% of home purchases were all cash here, according to the study.
That’s still an impressive number in terms of how much cash is chasing those million-dollar homes coming to market.
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And there’s even more real estate news.
San Diego -– along with the Miami metro area — continued to lead the nation when it comes to the growth rate in rising prices for homes coming to market, according to a new report from Irvine-based real estate data cruncher CoreLogic.
Home prices in San Diego increased 10% year over year in February. Miami’s increase was slightly above San Diego’s.
Overall, U.S. single-family home prices rose by 5.5% year over year in February and are expected to taper to around 3% growth by February 2025.
The information was released this week in the CoreLogic Home Price Index.
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Los Angeles commercial real estate investor Staley Point Capital and private equity firm Bain Capital Real Estate said they have acquired two industrial properties in Vista, marking their entrance into the San Diego market.
The properties, located at 2325 Cousteau and 2210 Oak Ridge, were purchased for $25 million and are fully leased.
Situated in a supply-constrained market, the acquisitions offer high-quality assets at a significant discount to replacement costs, according to a news release.
These Class A warehouses boast modern features, including clear heights ranging from 26 to 27 feet and docking facilities, the release noted.
Boston-based Bain Capital is a private equity investor that has offices on four continents and manages around $180 billion in assets.
Five-year-old Stanley Point is a real estate investment firm with a focus on Southern California.
Staley Point Managing Partner Eric Staley said the properties are benefiting from their North County location, one of the best-performing submarkets in San Diego.
The North County submarket has experienced an 8% 10-year compound annual growth rate and a 100% growth rate this past year.
“As a supply-constrained market, with just 1% of annual new supply in the last 20 years and no construction underway, there is significant demand for well-located and well-maintained industrial product in North County,” Staley said.
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ConTemporary Locums, a San Diego-based medical staffing company for doctors, “is ushering in a new era with a bold rebrand: Era Locums,” according to a news release.
“This strategic shift reflects our unwavering dedication to progress and aligns perfectly with our vision of being the next-generation locums company,” said CEO Sigrid Boring.
For physicians, the Era signifies more freedom and flexibility in their careers. For healthcare clients, it means a fresh talent pool of motivated specialists, she said.
For more information, click here.
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San Diego fleet operations management software and mobile workforce management provider Turmo has moved to new digs at 3655 Nobel Drive in La Jolla Village, according to a news announcement.
The company said the move “is part of our ongoing commitment to growth and innovation, providing expanded space for our team members and a new, modern customer briefing center for our valued customers, prospects, and partners.”
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Internet-based marketing platform Cordial has inked a new agreement with Move Inc., the operator of Realtor.com, to deliver personalized marketing campaigns to Realtor.com customers.
Cordial claims to be one of the leading marketing platforms that automates billions of data-driven emails, SMS and mobile app messages.
Cordial was named a Fastest-Growing Company in the 2022 and 2023 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 and won the Business Intelligence Group’s Best Places to Work award in 2023.
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San Diego-based, employee-owned Erickson-Hall Construction Co. has been listed as a top workplace in the nation, according to the USA Today 2024 Top Workplaces awards announced recently.
This listing recognizes organizations with 150 or more employees nationwide that have established a positive work culture.
In developing the list, USA Today and co-sponsor Energage surveyed more than 20 million employees in 2,200+ companies.
The construction company is a recognized industry leader which has completed more than $3.5 billion in construction projects, most of which $ has been in the education sector.
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Finally, this item of note. Solana Beach-based buyout firm Tide Rock says it has acquired Cablenet aerospace, a contract manufacturer for the aerospace, military, space and OEM industries in Denver.
Cablenet will become a division of Tide Rock’s Interconnect Solutions Co., which specializes in electromechanical assembly, custom molded solutions and interconnects for mission-critical aerospace, defense and life sciences projects.
Tide Rock, which also has offices in New York, says it acquires companies with strong free cash flow and grows them to scale while distributing high quarterly yield to its investors.
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.