La Mesa Housing real estate outlook
La Mesa, California, is a city in the San Diego metropolitan area home to a population of around 60,000. It lies near to San Diego State University and just about 12 miles northeast of the city of San Diego and about that same distance from the sea. The city is located in the eastern portion of San Diego County, which is generally known for having some of the area's lower real estate prices.
San Diego real estate as a whole has been adversely affected by the struggling national market over the past several years, and these effects have trickled down to the La Mesa real estate market as well. The past two and a half years have seen a substantial decline in home values at the same time as a precipitous rise in the number of foreclosures in La Mesa as homeowners have found themselves underwater on their mortgages or unable to afford their house payments due to unemployment or the high rates of interest rates that reset.
The large dips and roller coaster journey appear to be over for homes for sale in La Mesa, which have mostly stabilized in recent months, with only small increases or decreases in most categories. According to the San Diego Union Tribune's monthly data chart, in June, one of La Mesa's zip codes saw the median value of homes sold decline a slight 3.4% annually to $390,000; the city's other zip code, however, saw prices rise 1.5% to $335,000. There were 44 total single-familiy homes sold in June. The market for condos saw slightly more price movement: one zip code saw its median condo resale value rise 4.6% to $400,000, while the other saw its median price fall 9.2% to $182,500.
The price of single-family homes by square foot has actually risen in La Mesa on an annual basis though. The price per square foot in June was $263 and $271, respectively, in the city's two zip codes. These figures were an improvement of 5.8% and 12% from 2009's figures of $248 and $241. The square-foot price of condos saw a dip in price in one market, from $184 to $144, but with only two sales in the month for that area, the figures must be viewed skeptically. The other zip code saw a reliable 22 condos sold, enough to trust the median figure of price per square foot, which rose from $185 to $190, a 2.4% increase.
