San Diego County may be one of the priciest places to purchase a home in California but that statistic is also having a positive impact on the real estate market.
Construction sites abound in east Chula Vista. In Otay Ranch, many homes are selling before they're even built.
Dennis Almario would know. He just bought his home in Otay Ranch.
"We already got about $75,000 in equity after a year when we bought it," Almario said.
It’s a great gain for Almario who lost a previous home to the mortgage meltdown a few years ago.
In fact, Chula Vista was one of the hardest hit areas. Foreclosures became easy money for investors to buy and flip.
But with the economic growth, real estate experts say home values have increased about four percent.
Local
And in the next year real estate agent Jason Olaivar says the San Diego County housing market should see stable price gains.
"Right now we've been seeing a people a lot more educated in terms of their finances and what their housing budget is so they're not necessarily getting into that type of trouble again," Olaivar said.
"A lot of these homes are being built as fast as we can. You know to help keep up with the demand," he added.
A recent study listed San Diego as the second most-expensive metro city in California and in the U.S. overall for buying a median-priced house.
In San Diego, a median-priced home costs $517,800 at a mortgage rate of 4.28 percent. To be able to afford such a home with principal, interest, taxes and insurance payments, the buyer would need to earn an annual salary of $101,682.60.
More jobs offering a higher wage may continue to push the market forward.
"This will be another income for me and my family and my future and my kids and grandkids to pass along," Almario said.
Improving the housing market not only for homeowners in Chula Vista but across San Diego County.
