How far eastward do "San Diego" prices reach? (Santa Ana: real estate, crime rates)

[GoldWings]

I am from the midwest, and would appreciate a brief, broad-brush lesson in the real estate geography of southeastern / southern / southwestern California.

1 - As you head inland from the San Clemente to San Diego coastline, heading either northeastward or eastward... At what distance from this coastline might one begin to find small villages/towns/cities where land/homes are much less expensive than land/homes within the San Diego metro area?

Or, to be slightly more quantitative...

... At what distance from the San Clemente to San Diego coastline, might one begin to find small towns or cities where the median home price falls to, say, half the median home price of San Diego?

... 80 miles? . 100 miles? . 120 miles? . 150 miles? . 200 miles?

2 - Can you list a few such small towns/cities that could be considered potential answers to this question, and also comment briefly on the climate and other salient characteristics of those towns/cities?

* If answering these questions becomes easier, more straightforward, or more insightful by identifying various "subregions" and/or "subcultures" within southeastern/southern/southwestern California, please do so.

** Feel free to point me towards other threads or info-pages here on City-Data that are closely related to my questions.

3 - Is there a map of southern California somewhere on the web that shows median house price variation using colors or contour lines [similar to the way a topographic map shows the topography of a region]?

Thanks for your responses.

[spoonman1]

Look near Borrego Springs, Indio, El Centro, etc.

[Encinitan]

Originally Posted by spoonman1

Look near Borrego Springs, Indio, El Centro, etc.

Ha I was gonna say roughly along the I-15 corridor but you may be closer to reality.

[TacoSoup]

The mountain communities of the San Bernardino mountains. You can get a killer place for well under $300K, and it’s only an 1.5 hour drive to Newport Beach or 2 hours to La Jolla, not during rush hour obviously. The bottom of the hill has everything you could ever want too. I have a place there and would live up there in a heartbeat if that’s all I could afford.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

2 h 43 min (171.6 mi) via I-8 E to Yuma Arizona. Plus, you can live in a free State.

[RosieSD]

1 - As you head inland from the San Clemente to San Diego coastline, heading either northeastward or eastward... At what distance from this coastline might one begin to find small villages/towns/cities where land/homes are much less expensive than land/homes within the San Diego metro area?

Or, to be slightly more quantitative...

... At what distance might one begin to find small towns or cities where the median home price falls to, say, half the median home price of San Diego?

... 80 miles? . 100 miles? . 120 miles? . 150 miles? . 200 miles?

A bit of basic geography to be aware of: San Diego County's eastern border is 80 miles from the coast.

The Median Price of a SFH in San Diego County right now is just over $600,000.

In this thread thread: //www.city-data.com/forum/san-d...r-500-a-7.html I have broken down the number of SFH listings in San Diego County that are priced below $500,000. In other words, SFH listings that are significantly below the median SFH price.

At present, the greatest number of listings within San Diego County that are below half of the median SFH price (i.e. in the 300,000s and below) are found in these four areas:

Logan Heights
Encanto
Julian
Borrego Springs
Campo

The first two areas areas are actually just southeast of Downtown San Diego. The other three are in Eastern parts of the county. Campo would be the closest of these three to downtown San Diego (it's about 60 miles to downtown).

Borrego Springs, which is a small town of 6000 people, completely surrounded by the Anza Borrego State Park, has the largest number of SFHs listed below $300,000.

There are other areas where there currently are listings in the 300,000. But, in general, you will find that homes in that price range in the county of San Diego will require more compromises than normal.

For instance, both Encanto and Logan Heights are very racially diverse areas, and have higher crime rates than other parts of the county. Public schools in both are the worst performing schools within the County.

In Borrego Springs, there are plenty of homes listed below $300,000 BUT the town's water system is dangerously close to running dry and the state of California has had to step in and will be enforcing mandatory water rate hikes and severe water restrictions shortly.

In other words, it's possible to buy a home here for "half of the median price" but you are going to be making compromises to do so.



2 - Can you list a few such small towns/cities that could be considered potential answers to this question, and also comment briefly on the climate and other salient characteristics of those towns/cities?

Encanto and Logan Heights are within a few miles of the coast, so they generally have mild weather.

Campo is high desert. That means it gets more extremes in weather. Temperatures can range from 100 plus in the summer to below freezing in the winter months. But most of the time, the weather is still pretty moderate. Because it is on the "Dry" side of the mountains, it seldom gets snow. I would describe Campo as a semi-rural area -- you'll have to drive 20 minutes to get to a regular super market.

Julian is up in the mountains and does get snow. It is about 65 miles from downtown. Julian is a self-contained small town, although you will still probably be driving to do major shopping. However, most of the less expensive homes in "Julian" are going to also be in high desert areas like Shelter Valley or Banning. They have weather more similar to Campo, but a little warmer in the summer months. Shelter Valley gets snow every few years. I would describe these are rural areas.

Borrego Springs is in the desert. From October - April, temperatures will be mild (70s-80s during the day). From May through September, expect temperatures of 90+ every day with many days well above 100. Borrego Springs is a small town, but it is very isolated due to being surrounded by the 600,000 acre awesomely beautiful Anza Borrego State Park. See my comments about the water situation above.

East of San Diego County is Imperial County. You will find housing prices to be SIGNIFICANTLY less expensive the minute you cross the Imperial County line.

Imperial County is in the desert, but it is also a major agricultural center, so there is more "Green" in the County than you might expect. Much of Imperial Valley is below sea level, and it is very flat. The areas that have been developed for agriculture strike me as having a similar feel to rural areas in Southern Illinois in some ways. The major cities in Imperial County are El Centro, Brawley, Calexico, and Imperial. There are also some small towns (Holtville is one I really like).

You will regularly here Spanish being spoken in Imperial County; the population is majority Latino. Of the cities, Brawley and Imperial are probably the nicest with some upscale areas. Brawley was settled a long time ago by ranchers and has a lot of trees. Driving through, I regularly see signs for new housing developments for new homes for $250,000 and up.

Imperial County has some issues to consider and weigh. It is all in the desert. So, again, from October through April, you'll enjoy temperatures in the 70s-80s, but from May through September you will roast with 90 degrees plus. Because of the agricultural canals out there, I also find that the humdity levels seem higher than in other parts of the desert (i.e., Borrego Springs).

The other issue that deserves serious consideration is that Imperial County is immediately South of the Salton Sea. As a result, there is a growing pollution problem in the County and surrounding areas (Google Salton Sea to learn more).

North of San Diego County is Riverside County. Southern Riverside County has some options where prices are less expensive. TacoSoup also mentioned some mountain areas in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties that will have less expensive housing prices.


3 - Is there a map of southern California somewhere on the web that shows median house price variation using colors or contour lines [similar to the way a topographic map shows the topography of a region]?


Go to Zillow.com and enter the housing price you have in mind then set the search for either California or San Diego County (or another county). It will give you a nice map showing where home listings in that price range are located. You can then look at the listings to get a sense of what your budget will buy in many different areas. Use Google Street View to "walk" around the area (enter the address).

Google maps also has a topographic view option called terrain view.

Of course the BEST way to get the lay of the land, as it were, is to actually come out for a visit. There is no substitute for putting boots on the ground.

[payutenyodagimas]

I though I was in another state when I drove to Borrego Springs. I never knew there are still ranches/farm/pastures in San Diego County

[RosieSD]

A bit more on the geography and Climate of San Diego County:

The county of San Diego is almost the same size in terms of square mileage as the state of Connecticut.

As I said, San Diego County's eastern border is 80 miles from the coast. The County has a 56 mile coast line.

Most would consider everything within 5-10 miles of the ocean to be "Coastal." Home prices are well above the median in most of this area. There are two coastal cities that are a little cheaper: Oceanside on the northern edge of the county, and Imperial Beach, which is at the southern edge. Prices in these two areas have traditionally been below the median, but prices in both are no longer as cheap as they used to be.

Between 10 - 30 miles inland, you will find the "inland valleys" area. This is where you will start to see some less expensive areas, although there are still very expensive areas in this stretch. These areas will be sunnier and warmer than by the coast, but not excessively so. (Expect at most a few weeks out of the year where temps are in the high 90s).

Then, you will hit mountains. The higher the elevation, the colder it will get in the winter months. Areas above 5000 feet will see at least some snow almost every year, but even then it will generally melt quickly. Areas above 3000 feet get snow every now and then. My house is right at 3000 feet and we get a light dusting of snow maybe every 3-4 years. Elevation keeps temperatures a little cooler year round than in the valleys BUT when the winds known as "Santa Anas" hit, the mountains can actually be warmer than the valleys at times. The mountains, because they are forested, are also more in danger of wildfires.

Immediately after the mountains, you are in either the high desert, or low desert. High desert are areas that are still at elevation but have more of a desert climate. They will get hot, but will still stay a little cooler than the low desert. And most get pretty cold at night during the winter (although snow is uncommon). These are rocky areas, but they also have trees and stay much greener looking than down in the low desert for most of the year.

The low desert is going to be the hottest in the summer. It really LOOKS like desert out there, right down to having cactus and ocotillo. It will be delightfully warm and sunny out in the desert from late October to mid-April. Then, it gets very hot for the rest of the year.

Hope that gives you a picture of our big, beautiful County.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by payutenyodagimas

I though I was in another state when I drove to Borrego Springs. I never knew there are still ranches/farm/pastures in San Diego County

Plenty of them actually, and you don't even have to go all that far east.

According to the San Diego County Farm Bureau:

- San Diego County is the 12th largest farm economy among the more than 3007 counties in the U.S.
#1 county producer of avocados
#1 producer of nursery crops
#1 in number of part-time farmers
#2 in farms with women as principal operator
#3 in honey production
#5 in lemons
#9 in strawberries
#10 in egg-laying hens

====

I do want to correct something I said earlier -- I mentioned that Banning was part of Julian post office. I obviously mean Banner. If Banning was part of San Diego County, we'd be a LOT bigger.

[poop58]

Great information but you can also find decent homes in other areas for under 500k. National City, Chula Vista, imperial beach, Otay mesa, spring valley and el cajon.