Here is the latest update on active property in the Marblehead area of San Clemente.  There are 32 active properties between all of the communities of Marblehead.  The average price for all homes currently listed in Marblehead is $847,403.00, and the average price per square foot is $416.01.  These prices reflect view and non-view homes together. S518168  SFR  D  2230 Calle Opalo  SIG /1  3  2/2  1  2  1,714  1992  $1,079,900  232  S519436  SFR  D  2201 Via Gavilan HLE /A  3  3/2  1  2  1,903  1985  $849,000  222  S522272  CONDO  D  2406 C. Bucanero NP /C  3  3/2  2  2  1,417  1986  $679,500  197  S526405  CONDO  D  2148 Cam.Laurel HLV /0  3  3/2  2  2  1,830  1987  $675,000  96  S527742  CONDO  D  2415 Ave.Mastil NP /B  3  3/2  2  2  1,400  1986  $699,900  152  S528015  CONDO  A  20... 09/03/2008

Today...a two bedroom, two bath 1145 square foot home in Ocean Hills, San Clemente, reduced their price to $335,000.  These are prices not seen in Ocean Hills since 2002.  In 2002 interest rates were above 8% for most buyers.  You would pay less for the property today than 2003.  At $335,000, with a reasonable down payment, this could work out to be a cash positive income property, or a great deal on a second home.  there are several great deals in Ocean Hills.  For more information contact Sean Patrick Murphy at Blue Tide Realty. Sunset over Catalina as seen from Calle Casino in Ocean Hills, San Clemente, California. 08/28/2008

This is the latest update for the communities of Marblehead.  With 31 great priced homes on the market, the ocean views are waiting for the buyers.  These properties combined with still low interest rates make these a bargain.  Some of these properties have not been this low since 2002-2004. Address Trct/M Bd B t/f Sty Gar SqFt Yr Blt Price DOM 2117 Avenida Espada FH/B  3  2/1  1  2    1,302  1981  $559,900  394  2117 Avenida Oliva HLE/Z  3  3/2  2  3 A  2,455  1985  $1,195,000  261  2223 Avenida Oliva HLE/C  4  3/3  2  3 A  3,100  1984  $1,296,420  229  2230 Calle Opalo SIG/1  3  2/2  1  2    1,714  1992  $1,079,900  225  2201 Via Gavilan HLE/A  3  3/2  1  2    1,903  1985  $849,000  215  2406 Cam. Bucanero NP/C  3  3/2  2  2 A  1,417  1986  $679,500  190  609 Via Golondrina HLV/C  3  ... 08/27/2008

Here is the latest activity in the Ocean Hills Community of San Clemente.  Most of the prices on the ocean view property have remained very stable.  There are a couple of investment, and lender owned properties that have become very aggressive in their pricing.  3 bedroom lender owned homes in San Clemente in the low $400's.  Panoramic Ocean View Homes with a private spa and 3 bedrooms in the low $500's.  This is a great time to buy an investment property, or perhaps a second home. MLS No. Address City Bd Ba Sty Gar SqFt Price DOM S526408 804 Calle Pluma   SC 2  2.5  2  2 A  1,347  $675,000  156  S528383 3809 Calle La Quinta   SC 3  2.5  2  2    1,288  $549,900  140  S532829 856 Calle Pluma   SC 2  1.5  2  2    1,315  $555,000  103  S535660 714 Calle Cetro   SC 3  2.5  S  2    1,277  $6... 08/27/2008

The sky is blue the air is warm, and you have the day off work.  It's time to take advantage of the world class San Clemente beaches.  Your trip to the sand could be ruined by three key factors...weather at the beach, waves, and the tide.  Here are a couple of resources to take a peek at the elements from the comfort of your own home. 4 Cameras placed strategically around San Clemente to observe the weather conditions.  Great shots of the pier and Capo Beach http://san-clemente.org/cameras/chcamera.aspx The local surf report courtesy of The Surfrider Foundation. http://www.surfrider.org/beachreport4.asp San Clemente Tide Table.  Low tide is a recipe for surfing disaster. http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/tide.cgi?tide=2642 I hope this helps make your day off wonderful! 08/27/2008

Due to recent requests from current and past San Clemente real estate clients, we have added a foreclosure and short-sale section on our website under Real Estate.  This page includes all the current foreclosures and short-sales currently available in the San Clemente real estate market.  In addition, you now have the opportunity to search foreclosures and short-sales through our property search engine at the top of our website.  This will enable you to search San Clemente real estate foreclosures and short-sales by price, bedrooms, bathrooms, neighborhoods, etc.  Please keep in mind the majority of the foreclosures and short-sales are in the Talega real estate market, the most inland and newest area of San Clemente.  Talega real estate, both homes and condos, has experienced the most f... 08/27/2008

At the July 17th San Clemente city council meeting Dave Placek, representing SunCal, LLC, reported on the status of the Marblehead residential/SunCal project. Mr. Placek provided the San Clemente City Council with a construction schedule, noting that there have been no changes since the previous meeting. He summarized the status of various aspects of the project. He stated that SunCal will meet with Craig Realty regarding the commercial site and advised that he recently met with representatives of Colony Cove to ensure that issues related to temporary fencing and site clean up are addressed. 08/22/2008

Ocean Views in San Clemente are as prized as the weather.  Anything that could increase or decrease your panoramic view is extremely important to the people that are affected by the change. In recent weeks the residents of San Clemente have been witness to a constant parade of barges and work platforms off the coast of Southwest San Clemente.  It is the first question from my client on the view deck of every ocean view property.  "What's that out there?", or "Are they drilling off the coast?"  Is it the latest attempt to solve the oil crisis?  The answer has to do with our public power supply, but not with oil. The silt that comes from the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant has killed off a substantial amount of kelp in the area.  The silt blocks essential sunlight from reaching the kelp.  ... 08/22/2008

  This is a current list of all active property in the Ocean Hills community of San Clemente.  The average list price of $549,000 is remarkable for Ocean View homes in San Clemente. Buying has really picked up in the last month.  The buyers are seeing record low prices in a very desirable area.  Currently listed Active properties in Ocean Hills # MLS# Type A/D Address City/ Area TGNO Trct/M Bed B t/f St Gar A/D SqFt YBlt List Price DOM 1  S526408  Condo  A  804 Calle Pluma   SC/ SN  972D6  OH /B  2  3/2  2  2  A  1,347  1975  $675,000  151  2  S532829  Big Green Belt A  856 Calle Pluma   SC/ SN  972D6  OH /0  2  2/1  2  2     1,315  1975  $555,000  98  3  S543936  Newly Re-modeled A  881 Calle Pluma   SC/ SN  972D6  OH /*  2  3/2  2  2  A  1,347  1975  $550,000  9  4  S528383  Plans for... 08/22/2008

For the past five years, the City Council of San Clemente has been developing plans for the usage of 53 acres of land in Rancho San Clemente/Forster Ranch at the cross streets of Avenida Vista Hermosa and Avenida La Pata.  The plans included building a new 42-acre sports and swimming complex, which now, according to this article in the OC Register, is closer to becoming a reality.  The Council has decided to go ahead with plans for the La Pata/Vista Hermosa Sports Park and Aquatics Center, with a projected construction start date of January 2009 and opening of the park in June 2010.  Features of the new park will include: Baseball, football and soccer complexes, complete with restrooms, spectator seating and mixed-use fields. Aquatics center with 50-meter competition pool, 25-meter acti... 08/20/2008

In this article "How to Buy a Foreclosed Home" many great points are brought to light to educate buyers on the different stages of foreclosure and their implications.  If you are looking to buy and find a good deal, it might be a foreclosure as 40% of California homes sold in the second quarter were foreclosures.   Below, you will find a description of the different stages of foreclosures and their implications to you as a buyer in order for you to make a more informed decision: 1.  Pre-foreclosure A pre-foreclosure occurs when the borrower has fallen behind on payments but their property has not been auctioned off.  Lenders will file deliquency notices with county courthouses when a borrower has fallen behind.  All it takes is a little research to find out what homes might be coming on... 08/20/2008

Last week we gave you an overview of the San Clemente real estate market performance from 2000 to 2008.  This week we thought it would be appropriate to focus on the year-over-year comparison as of July 2008 in order to focus more on the present.  For July 2008 year to date, 344 San Clemente homes and condos have sold as compared with 427 for the same period prior year, representing a 19% decrease.  Currently, average days on market (DOM) is at 103 days up from 88 the same period prior year or an increase of 17%.   While much of this is negative news, everyone should note that San Clemente real estate median price is down 9.36% compared to Orange County and California real estate median price decrease of 26% and 35% respectively.  Clearly this is great news for San Clemente real estate ... 08/20/2008

Many real estate agents in the southern Orange County area get the call for an affordable ocean view property in San Clemente.  It would be great if there were a community with ocean views, a couple of pools, a clubhouse with a BBQ area, and throw in a golf course to boot!  All of this on an FHA (Federal Housing Administration), or VA loan.  Not Possible? Why Ocean Hills? Ocean Hills was designed by the La Quinta Styline company in 1974 as a vacation resort style development.  With homes that range in size from 1000 sqare foot 2 bedroom 2 baths, to 1800 square foot 3 bedroom 3 bath floor plans.  Most of the homes offer wonderful ocean views and coastal hills views.  Ocean Hills has 2 heated pools, a recreation/clubhouse facility, sport courts, BBQ and picnic area, and a private 9 hole p... 08/06/2008

On March 18, 2008 the Sun-Cal project took a big leap forward. A big keystone in the project has been the bridges that span the canyons that stand in the way of the Avenida Vista Hermosa proposed route.  Sun-Cal had new signs of life as they continued to work on the project after a long period with no progress on the project.  This is what the press release stated: MASSIVE ROUND-THE-CLOCK CONCRETE POUR IS COMPLETED FOR 400-FOOT-LONG BRIDGE AT MARBLEHEAD COASTAL IN SAN CLEMENTESan Clemente, Calif. (March 21, 2008) -- A major construction milestone for Sun-Cal Companies, Marblehead Coastal master-planned community in San Clemente was reached Tuesday, March 18, with the round-the-clock pouring of 2,400 cubic yards of concrete for a 400-foot-long bridge that spans a canyon within the develo... 08/06/2008

The Los Angeles Times ran an article on Sunday titled "Should You Buy a Home Now?"  The article offers pros and cons regarding the purchase of a home in today's market.  The central pro argument involves a position that this blog has frequently stated - real estate investment is one of the safest ways to build one's equity.  The article contends that if a person can afford a mortgage payment, why would they throw that money away by paying rent?  Also, as stated in yesterday's blog regarding interest rates, waiting for the market to "bottom out" may cost you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan if interest rates increase.  The main con argument centers on the notion that prices will continue to fall and that buyers will regret their purchase in a year when prices are even lowe... 08/06/2008

A couple weeks back we wrote a blog saying now may be the time to buy in order to lock in a low interest rate.  An article on CNN titled "Time to Lock in Your Mortgage Rate" is saying the same thing.  If you are a serious San Clemente buyer, you need to consider that the average price in San Clemente is approximately $900,000 and therefore, a change in interest rates could drastically effect how much you pay per month for your mortage.  Lets assume you put 10% down on a $900,000 Talega home  or another San Clemente property and finance $810,000.  A change in interest rates lets say from 6% to 6.5% would cost you an extra $263 per month or $3160 per year.  A change in rates from 6% to 7% would cost you an extra $532 per month or almost $6400 per year.    While rising rates may prolong th... 08/06/2008

The Sun Post News reports that San Clemente gas prices continue to ease on a week-to-week basis.  The article shows a $0.13 drop in the lowest price from last week and an $0.18 drop from the highest price.  This good news comes on the heels of another recent article in the OC Register stating that the OC Metrolink lines have seen a 60% increase in weekend ridership from last year.  This is excellent news for local San Clemente businesses that feed off tourism, as the gas crunch has not affected people from visiting San Clemente and its beaches on the weekends.  As has been seen throughout California and the country, people are simply finding new ways to travel.  While the trains (and their extremely loud horns) can be a nuisance at times, San Clemente is very lucky to have convenient st... 08/06/2008

This article from CNN Money provides great insight on how to spot if the San Clemente housing market is rebounding.  First thing everyone needs to remember is real estate is localized and should not be simply compared to how the national housing market is performing.   With this being said, keeping track of a few key indicators should give you the buyer or seller a sense if a turnaround is coming: Local Job Market - unemployment staying steady or decreasing will help the market recover quicker Inventory on the Market - a significant reduction in inventory and an increase in sales will help prices stabilize.  Inventory levels in a steady market is approximately six months and homes on average stay on the market for 90 days.   More importantly, verify San Clemente real estate market is re... 08/06/2008

An article on CNN titled "Inflation Grows at Fastest Pace in 27 Years" released today illustrates our nations problem with slowing growth and rising costs may be worse than anticipated.  But how does this affect the San Clemente housing market? Since most mortgages are tied to the 10 Year Treasury, which is affected by economics news, this means the cost of borrowing will be on the rise.  As inflation increases, bond holders require a greater return to be compensated for inflation and this causes interest rates to rise.  As interest rates rise, it will cost more to finance your home.  For example, a 30 year fixed on $500,000 financed will cost an extra $1,965 per year or $164 per month if interest rates go from 6% to 6.5%.  This will require borrowers to gross an extra $6,000 per year i... 08/06/2008

San Clemente is holding strong.  With some areas of the United States reporting record Numbers of Bank Foreclosures, San Clemente is showing only .0393% of the properties are owned by lenders.  There are only 21 Bank Owned and Lender Owned properties listed in the SoCal MLS, with an average price of $850,757.00.    San Clemente currently has 533 properties on the market, which is not a significant difference from last year.  The beach is looking as good as ever.  For an updated list of Bank Owned and Lender Owned property in San Clemente and all Orange County cities go to http://www.bluetiderealty.com/reo.html.   08/04/2008