The Scripps Ranch real estate market, a residential sector of the larger San Diego County housing market, saw a slowing rate of foreclosures as well as lower home values in the most recent tracking periods. According to statistics provided by real estate information service MDA DataQuick, the number of foreclosures in San Diego and mortgage defaults throughout San Diego County real estate properties declined compared to both year-ago and month-ago levels. The organization reported that there were a total of 1,660 mortgage defaults in November 2010, marking a decrease of more than four percent from October and a fall of about twenty-two percent compared to November 2009.  Similarly, there were only 723 completed foreclosures in November, a decrease of more than twenty-seven percent compared to October 2010 and a decline of more than thirty-two percent relative to November 2009. Although the exact reasons remain unclear, some experts have suggested that the improvement can be attributed to a generally improving economy. Other possible explanations or contributing factors include a seasonal drop off in foreclosures, and difficulties in processing foreclosure paperwork. However, it is possible that the decline is also a product of banks preparing a discharge of foreclosures in the upcoming year, which would mean that they may peak in the upcoming months.
The nationwide real estate market is facing the threat of a double dip decline, according to a recently released report. The report by Standard&Poor’s/Case-Shiller, indicated that all twenty metropolitan areas measured by the group saw a decline in home prices from September 2010 to October 2010. For San Diego County in particular, the average price of a single family home declined by approximately one and a half percent between September and October, which was even more dramatic than the one percent fall seen a month earlier. On the other hand, the San Diego metropolitan area was one of only four regions in the twenty areas surveyed that saw a year-over-year increase in median price. Over that period, the San Diego metro region saw a rise of three percent. Compared to the peak of the market, property values in San Diego, including Scripps Ranch homes, have declined by more than thirty-six percent.