If you’ve been to San Diego, you know that residence here take their health and fitness very seriously.  With beautiful weather all year round and the ocean and mountains in our backyard, it is hard to not to enjoy outdoor activities daily.  It is no wonder why Encinitas has become the sports and fitness destination in May for athletes to test their abilities.

The 7th annual Encinitas Sports Festival begins tomorrow and runs through Sunday.  Over the next 2 days, people of all shapes and sizes will be competing in events, enjoying outdoor activities and learning about health and fitness at an expo at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas.  Anyone and everyone is welcome to enter the races which include a sprint triathlon, super sprint triathlon, beach duathlon, sprint triathlon relay, paddle board and swim, 5k and 1k runs, and the San Diego Century Bike Tour.  Or, if you are more of a fan than a competitor, enjoy the booths set up along the beach with vendors, clinics and live music.

For more information about the events, please visit http://encinitasrace.com/.

In an effort to increase the use of green devices, the Encinitas City Council voted last Wednesday to waive permit fees for electric-vehicle charging stations and solar panel installations and projects.

Currently, the cost of a permit to install an energy efficient apparatus is about $320 and $120 of that is city fees.  Encinitas collects over $40,000 annually for the issuance of these permits.  However, the projected loss from waiving these fees has been estimated at $14,500.  EsGil Corp., a San Diego company that assists with the inspections, takes the other portion of the permit cost and the City Council is expected to ask them to lower their fees in support of this project.

Alternative energy source use is on the rise in Encinitas.  Last year there were 120 energy efficient projects completed and this year, there are already 116.

An ordinance was approved yesterday by the San Diego City Council’s Land Use and Housing Committee that will allow property owners and tenants on private land to install more energy efficient and brighter outdoor lighting.

The new lighting will have lower energy consumption which will not only help the environment, but also save people money.  The city has already saved $1.2 million in the last 2 years by installing new induction lights in public areas.

The proposed ordinance will still need final approval from the City Council, and there are some opponents.  Scientists and astronomers have been complaining about the growing “light pollution” in San Diego for years.  The city is working with some of these astronomers to find a satisfactory level of illumination for both parties.

The Torrey Pines Natural Reserve Docent Society and the Torrey Pines association are hosting their third annual “Art in the Pines” event this Saturday and Sunday at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve from 10am - 5pm on Saturday and 10am - 4pm on Sunday.

Art in the Pines aims to bring together artists and art lovers in a natural setting to appreciate the beauty in nature, bring awareness to preservation, and to support some great causes such as children’s nature programs.

Event goers can peruse dozens of booths featuring paintings, sculptures, photography, ceramics, and more, all inspired by nature.  There will also be food, live music, nature tours, and children’s activities.

The event is free but parking in the lot is $10 per car.  For more information, please visit: http://www.torreypine.org/activities/aitp/

Hi Friends!

Last month we saw and reported a big change in the local market.  There were not only local numbers from February that indicated a better state of the market, but there were macro market and economic phenomena indicating a healthy progression taking place on an even wider scale.  I was very curious to see how this would play out once March’s numbers came in.

Taking a look at March’s numbers for San Diego County, the statistic that strikes me as most interesting and significant is the ratio of new listings on the market vs. homes sold.  New listings on the market were WAY down from March of last year while homes sold were way up.  The glut of homes on the market over the past few years has played a huge role in value declines, as well as sales volume stagnation.   For a long while, even well priced short sales often wouldn’t even sell, and would eventually foreclose and sell on the courthouse steps for dimes per dollar, keeping Buyers of short sales and certainly of traditional sales on the sidelines.  This would take huge digs into the value of each neighborhood and San Diego County real estate in general.  Slowly, prices stabilized.  Buyers, especially cash Buyers, began to come out of the woodwork and short sales no longer sat very long before being gobbled up.  Finally, this led to a situation we hadn’t seen in a long time; multiple offers.  Remember those?  I had multiple offers on a short sale of mine last month with calls continuing to come in even after the home was listed as “contingent.”

So homes are now being taken off the market more quickly, which of course leads to less inventory, and further price stability.  When you add in the fact that fewer homes are coming on the market in the first place, it’s easy to predict that this will expedite the depletion of supply.  This is why the ratio of new listing vs. homes sold is so interesting to me.  Homes sold are up considerably from March of last year.  New listings WAY down while home sales volumes are up.  It’s a good sign for what this year will bring as a whole.

If you are one of the beach goers that have seen plastic bags on your beach, you will be happy to know that on Wednesday night, the Solana Beach City Council voted to remove single-use plastic bags from restaurants, retailers and grocery stores.  Businesses will have around 3 months to comply with the new regulation.

Solana Beach joins a growing list of cities in California and the United States that have banned the bags.  San Francisco outlawed plastic bags in 2007 and many other California cities have followed suit including Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, and Laguna Beach.  Just Wednesday, the Honolulu City Council also voted to ban plastic bags on Oahu, but not until 2015.

This is not the first bold, environmental action that Solana Beach has taken.  In around 2002, Solana Beach was the first city in the continental United States to ban smoking on beaches.  Hopefully, the bag ban will have the same positive effect on beaches that the smoking ordinance has had.

Which San Diego cities will be the next to ban plastic bags, and how long it will take?  We will keep you posted!

Tuesday’s S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index stated that San Diego is one of only three U.S. housing markets that had an increase in home value in February, the first month to month increase in six months.

San Diego’s home values rose 0.2 percent. Miami rose 0.6 percent and Phoenix rose 1.2 percent.  The Phoenix market was one of the areas hurt worst by the recession which could be a contributing factor to the largest increase from January to February.  The nine metro areas that had the worst home value decreases were Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Las Vegas, New York, Seattle, and Tampa.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index tracks home value data nationally in 20 major metropolitan regions.  In comparing San Diego’s market from February 2012 to February 2011, values have dropped almost 4 percent.  In the same comparison, Atlanta’s market was the weakest, falling 17 percent since last year.

Low mortgage rates and home prices are definitely a contributing factor to the increase in single family home sales.  Whether demand has caught up with supply is still the question that the analysts are not ready to answer.  Regardless, it’s nice to see San Diego show some glimpses of recovery in the last couple of months and how much better off our market is than many others around the nation.

For a market analysis of your home, please contact us at guy@livingwestof5.com.

Last night over 100 parents gathered to encourage the Carlsbad Unified School District to keep open Buena Vista Elementary, Carlsbad Seaside Academy, and Carlsbad Village Academy schools.

The District, facing a $9 million budget deficit, has been tempted to close the schools for obvious cost reasons.  However, money is exactly what saved one of the schools last night.  A new playground and security fences were just recently installed at Buena Vista Elementary and the School District did not want to see the money go to waste.

Board members voted 4-1 to keep open the schools after a 3 hour debate.

Carlsbad Seaside Academy and Carlsbad Village Academy were unanimously voted to be kept open and will relocate to the Carlsbad High School campus.

Whatever the reasons, parents are ecstatic that their children can continue to learn, grow, and thrive at their schools.

This Saturday, April 28th, the YMCA of La Jolla will be hosting their annual Healthy Kids Day from 10am - 1pm.  Healthy Kids Day is the largest health day for children in the nation.  The goal of the event is to educate families about healthy eating and active lifestyles and promote strong bodies as well as minds.

Kids and their families can enjoy a bounce house, rock climbing wall, fitness challenges, sports drills, gymnastics, healthy snacks, musics, games, arts and crafts, camp songs, face-painting, give-a-ways and much more.  And the event is free!

The weather is suppose to be beautiful this weekend so there is no excuse - get up, get out, and get active with your kids!

YMCA La Jolla is located at 8355 Cliffridge Ave. right next to Torrey Pines Elementary School off of La Jolla Scenic Drive.  For more information on the event, visit http://lajolla.ymca.org/

Capital Economics, an independent analytics firm, is reporting that they are expecting the housing crisis to end this year, according to reports.

Market indicators are pointing to a stabilization of mortgage lending standards and also a loosening of credit availability.  Capital Economics says that banks are loosening loan-to-value ratios and lending amounts up to 3.5 times the borrowers earnings - up from 3.2 during the worst of the crisis.

In general, Buyers seem to be more motivated and think that prices have hit bottom.  We are not out of the weeds yet, however.  Credit conditions have softened but credit requirements are still tough.  This, coupled with foreclosures still being released onto the market, is keeping home values from increasing.

When will prices begin increasing again and when will the crisis be over?  Only time will tell.

As always, we will continue to keep you posted on the monthly happenings in the market.