San Diego Real Estate Will Bounce Back

By Joel Persinger
YourRealEstateDude.com

As with congregations all over town, my church got together this past Sunday and held a service in which the minister addressed the tragedy caused by wildfires throughout our beloved San Diego County. Following the service, I had time to visit with some friends, and the subject of the fires and their effect upon the real estate market came up.

This is not my first exposure to devastating wild fires. That came in September of 1970 when I stood on the porch of my parent’s home in Harbison Canyon and watched as the fires, which would eventually kill six people and destroy 175,000 acres, raced threateningly down the mountains some two miles on the other side of the valley toward us. The fire reached our land in less than ten minutes.

We were foolish in the extreme back then. My stepfather and a few of the neighbors decided not to evacuate, choosing to stay and try to save their homes instead. With little knowledge or understanding of wildfires, they tried to clear brush around the houses as my mother and my brothers and I watched helplessly through the picture window from our living room. By all rights, the fire should have burned up the house and the rest of us with it. Miraculously, both my family and our home survived. 382 other homeowners were not so lucky.

Over the almost forty years since that day, I have seen many wildfires in San Diego County. Obviously, none of them have risen to the severity of the Cedar fires of 2003 or the firestorm of last week. But in each case one bit of similarity has held true. Rather than shrink back from the challenge or adopt a “that’s their problem” mindset, the people of San Diego County, as well as many companies and corporations, have rallied around the victims with just about every kind of support. And, in each case, while the real estate market was effected in the short term to one degree or another, it has bounced right back.

I spoke with several clients and business associates on Thursday and Friday of last week. It may be the parent in me, but I just wanted to make sure they were in one piece. During my conversations I was told of the many plans to help the families who have lost their homes or whose homes have been severely damaged. A senior executive at one lending institution told me how frantically her company wanted to help the victims of the fires. I must admit that this response came as a complete surprise to me. It lifted my spirits to see the hearts of those with whom I work day after day and their earnest desire to help following such a tragedy.

There is a lot of bad news out there and we all know that the home loan and real estate markets have slowed to a crawl. It may well be that this past week’s events will slow things down further. But, have faith. The people of San Diego County are resilient and so is the Southern California real estate market.