With its superb range of leisure and cultural attractions, San Diego remains high on everyone’s list of favourite tourist destinations. It can boast over ten beaches which means there is easily one to suit everyone and also hosts one of the nations largest cultural and entertainment complexes at Balboa Park. Just some of the facilities that make the city a diverse and colorful choice for vacation.
This ever increasing tourist industry is, at present, the city’s lifeline during a time when employment in other sectors seems to be hard to find and in some cases the drop in work opportunities is taking its toll in this time of economic difficulty.
Bearing the brunt of the current economic climate is the construction industry where it has been reported that around 9,000 jobs have been lost within the last twelve months in San Diego. This can obviously be linked to the slump in the real estate market during this time of economic turmoil and also contributes to the “Catch 22” situation that has arisen with regard to the excessively high percentage of foreclosures that is being experienced at present.
With foreclosures currently running at around three times what they were three years ago and actually outweighing the number of property sale for the first quarter of 2008, if you have the finance in place to purchase, San Diego could well be an ideal consideration. Real estate prices are down 20% on this time last year for a single family home in the area and mortgage rates are currently very favorable with 6% being around the normal expected for a standard long term property loan. Some people are now considering some of the fixed rate deals on offer to take advantage of this low rate. These, however, must be well researched prior to putting your signature on that dotted line.
Although the construction industry in San Diego is thinning out its workforce, employment prospects in the city are not all gloom and doom. That ever present tourist industry is, as always, doing a good job of bringing a constant supply of dollars into the area and there is very little chance that this short period of economic uncertainty is going to alter that. Employment in the sector is up considerably on this time last year and the leisure and hospitality employers still have vacancies waiting for the right people. The same is true when it comes to a job within one of the many government offices with between two and three thousand jobs having been up for grabs within the last twelve months. In fact, although the total number of work situations has dropped somewhat in the course of the year, there are still prospects in all the sectors such as health, education, professional and business services.
So, although on the surface, it would seem that San Diego is suffering greatly from the unstable economy, just below the surface impression of job losses and real estate foreclosures is a city where it would be wise to take a more careful look. Perhaps it would be wise to consider working in one of its still upwardly mobile industries, such as tourism and hospitality, and taking advantage of a home index price which is currently about as low as it was in 2004. Then all you have to do is wait until the housing market starts to stabilize again around the end of the year and you may well see the benefits!
More Tags: » Browse the real estate tags page
Tell Others What You're Reading!
Connect with me!
