The Voice of San Diego has this report on the condo market. "While the news that home prices finally went negative year-on-year last month grabbed plenty of attention this week, a new report shows that the price dip has been even more exaggerated for condos and townhomes."

"When compared with June 2005, median prices dropped $20,000 in the county last month for single-family attached homes, a category that includes condos, condo-conversions and townhomes. That’s a 5.2 percent drop over the year. The prices also decreased by 2.4 percent from May to June and 5.7 percent from the beginning of the year, according to HomeDex."

"Realtor Jim Klinge, who has been in the realty business for 22 years, said the current conditions are unlike anything he’s seen before. 'It’s anything but normal, if you ask me,' Klinge said."

"Chris Thornberg, at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the housing market is in uncharted territory. Thornberg attributes the 'everything’s fine' response from the realty industry to the 'bunker mode' mentality that comes in circumstances like these."

"'People are loathe to realize losses in homes,' Thornberg said. 'They don’t want to talk about it, to think about it.' Thornberg said that these numbers aren’t evidence of a soft landing. 'The industry has been really blase,' he said. 'This cooling off of the market is very, very hard and very, very fast; more than we’ve seen before.'"

"The lower prices have also had an impact on the rate of production undertaken by San Diego builders and developers. In the market heyday in recent years, builders held back on production of detached homes, but overcompensated and 'got a bit crazy' in the condo market, said Alan Gin, professor of economics at the University of San Diego."

"'They were counting on condos being new starter homes,' Gin said. But, he thinks the changing prices will lead first-time homebuyers to wait until prices drop low enough for them to afford a detached home. That reluctance to jump into the market will reduce the demand, and will thus reduce the prices, even further, Gin said."

"While marked decreases in the median prices of single-family attached homes were noticed in all areas of San Diego in June, South County experienced the largest differential, with decreases of 11.3 percent from the same month last year, 12.6 percent from January and 7 percent from last month. That’s a year-on-year price drop of more than $40,000."

"Those decreases are hitting home for several of Chula Vista Realtor Dawn Lewis’s clients, four of whom are what Lewis calls 'short sales.' These are people whose initial home loans were for a higher price than their homes are currently worth. 'They think it’s better to cut their losses now than to wait to see what happens later,' she said."

"Lewis said she’s even willing to take less on commission if it means finding these often desperate clients a way out."

"Builder incentives and price reductions, often about $20,000, accompany nearly every condo sale in the current market and have taken the place of upgrades and gimmicks that used to help sellers close a deal, said Peter Dennehy, senior vice president for Sullivan Group Real Estate Advisors."

"'People are saying now, we need more help making our monthly payments than we need granite countertops, flatscreen TVs and that sort of thing,' Dennehy said."

"Chris Redfearn, an analyst with the University of Southern California’s Lusk Center for Real Estate, agrees that San Diego, especially downtown, will benefit from the aggressive underwriting and investing in condos, he said. 'The original investors may get hammered. But ultimately, downtown is going to become a great place.'"