As addressed in our previous blog, the City of San Clemente has taken a survey of city residents to obtain their feedback on what they like about San Clemente and things they would like to see changed as part of putting together a 20 year plan for the city called “Vision San Clemente.”  Here is a summary of what residents have voiced from the Vision San Clemente survey:

• 97% of residents view the quality of life in San Clemente as excellent or good
• 86% said they want to preserve unique village character of San Clemente, especially Downtown / Central San Clemente
• Residents believe the most important thing the City should preserve for the future is the proximity and quality of the local beaches
• Residents want to keep San Clemente neighborhoods more desirable as 97% believe that adequate parking is somewhat important and 93% value being within walking distance to parks, green spaces, and/or beaches
• San Clemente residents want to spend more time in the city, requiring additional restaurants, entertainment options, and shopping for necessities

For more information on San Clemente, feel free to contact your exclusive San Clemente real estate consultants.

According to the City of San Clemente, Vision San Clemente is the city’s first step in creating a general plan update over the next 20 years and they are looking to San Clemente residents for participation.  The city plans to use participants’ input to sucessfully plan for the future of the city by identifying current strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.  In addition, priorities will be outlined and a plan put in place on how to achieve such objectives. 

While the community survey has already been completed, the first community workshop will be July 9th at San Clemente High School Triton Center from 6:00-8:30pm.  San Clemente High School is located at 700 Pico Avenue.  The second workshop will be July 29th at the same time and place.

For more information, please visit the City of San Clemente’s web page dedicated to Vision San Clemente or view this brochure.

According to the San Clemente Times, a group of San Clemente residents are planning legal action against the City of San Clemente if they do not resolve the increased level of train noise due to the pedestrian crossings along the Beach Trail from North Beach to Calafia.  There are currently five beach crossings along the path and as mandated by Federal Law in 2006, trains are required to sound the horns no matter the time of day when crossing over these pedestrian crossings.  The group QUIET - Quit Using Intense Ear-Splitting Train noise) is not after money, but rather is after the peace and quiet so they can get a good night sleep along this beautiful stretch of ocean front San Clemente real estate.  The head of the group claims the city of San Clemente knew about the issues and failed to take any action.  The solution is to underground the pedestrian passes so the trains would no longer have to sound their horns along the coastal corridor, each of which would cost around $500,000 or $2.5 million in total.

For more information, please visit the City of San Clemente website.

If you are in the market to buy a San Clemente home or condo for sale and are a first-time homebuyer, you can now use the available $8,000 tax credit upfront towards your down payment or closing costs without having to wait for it when you file your tax return for 2009 in 2010.  Here is a summary of how the plan works now:

• Must purchase the home and close escrow no later than December 1, 2009
• First-time homebuyers (i.e. have never owned or have not owned in past three years) can use the $8,000 up front as closing costs or towards down payment
• Only FHA-approved loans are required if tax credit is used as down payment
• While the $8,000 tax credit can be used towards down payment or closing costs, it cannot go towards the 3.5% FHA required down payment.

For more information on using this credit, please feel free to contact us for a free consultation.

Come enjoy 4th of July fireworks and festivities at the San Clemente Pier located in the Central / Downtown area of San Clemente.  Fireworks will start at 9pm, however, there will be many people enjoying the beautiful beach for the day.  If you happen to be hungry and want to sit on the water, you can enjoy Fisherman’s Restaurant that has delicious fish and chips, fish tacos, clams, and other food for those non-seafood lovers.  They also have a full-service bar.  If you don’t want to wait long to eat here, you can head up Del Mar street where you can enjoy food at such places as Beachfire Bar and Grill, Selma’s Chicago Pizza, or El Ranchito Mexican Restaurant.  If your are in the mood for more of an upscale place to eat, you can head to Gordon James, White Horse Restaurant and Bar, Village Meditteranean Rim, or The Cellar.

The San Clemente Pier is located off the Avenida Palizada exit of Interstate 5.  If you are heading south on the 5, exit Avenida Palizada, make a left onto El Camino Real and then turn right on Del Mar Street.  As you head down Del Mar street you will see all the local establishments offering great food and shopping.  Stay straight on Del Mar all the way down the hill where at the bottom you will find metered parking at the Pier.

According to the San Clemente Times, the new proposed Ralphs Shopping Center near downtown San Clemente on El Camino Real became a closer reality on Tuesday.  The San Clemente City Council voted 3-2 against requiring an environmental impact report (EIR) and instead decided that a mitigating negative declaration (MND) would suffice.  From a development standpoint, an EIR takes a lot longer to complete and obtain approval on versus the MND and sometimes can be a difference of 12-18 months.  In order to begin construction, either and EIR or MND needs to be approved, so the fact the city council voted in favor of the MND means that this much needed infrastructure could be begin construction sometime in the next 6-12 months.  

Stay tuned for more updates to come!

According to the San Clemente Times, Poche Beach, located in the area of North San Clemente next to Dana Point, has had poor quality ratings for years due to run-off from 4,400 square acres.  Advisories were posted on 210 of the 365 days in 2007.  Poche ranked number 7 on Heal the Bay’s 2009 list of 10 “Beach Bummers.”

To help cure the problem, a $3 million treatment system will be installed to remove particles from urban runoff and then unltraviolet light will zap the water to kill the bacteria.  The City of San Clemente hopes to see a big improvement in the water quality by this time next year.

Other San Clemente beaches, such as Pico, have had successful results.  The dry-weather runoff between Avenida Pico and El Camino Real is diverted to a nearby treatment facility and has resulted in the beach receiving an A in dry weather conditions.  San Clemente also has a diversion system for Linda Lane and Riviera Beach. 

While these beaches have solid rating for dry weather conditions, the diversion systems and water treatment facilities are not capable of handling wet weather conditions, and therefore, all the run-off during rains still go straight into the ocean.  Hopefully this will be an issue addressed in the near future.

For more information on San Clemente beaches, including ocean view homes and condos, feel free to contact us and we’ll gladly answer any questions you may have.

San Clemente real estate, including Talega real estate, continues to suggest we have reached a bottom or are nearing a bottom due to (1) decreased inventory from higher sales and fewer properties coming on the market and (2) due to the average price per square foot for San Clemente homes and condos sold holding steady over the past three months.

First, new listings for San Clemente homes and condos for sale are down 8.1% while sales are up 8.6% for May 2009 versus May 2008 year-to-date.  This means a continued reduction in inventory, a key for the market to be stable.  Sales year-to-date continue to outpace 2008 for the fifth straight month as we enter the busy summer buying season.

Secondly, over the past three months the average price per square foot for San Clemente real estate sold has held steady around $350.  While most media reports on the average sales price for San Clemente homes and condos sold, which is down 24.5% over the 12 month period, it does not realistically portray where the market is today.  The bulk of the inventory that has sold has been in the lower and middle market properties thats consists of short-sales and foreclosures.  When more of these properties are selling, it naturally pulls down the average sales price, but not necessarily the average price per square foot.  For example, more $500,000 properties selling brings down the average sales price, but the average price per square foot would hold steady if these were all similar in size, features, and amenities (given a stable market).  This is why the average price per square foot is a key figure to evaluate for a stable market versus average sales price.

Nevertheless, price declines have drastically slowed and buyers confidence in the market is clearly returning with the continued up tick in sales.  For more information, including a free assessment of your real estate needs, please do not hestitate to contact your exclusive San Clemente Realtors.

To those of you not familiar with the San Clemente real estate market, there are many historical sites that the city tries and preserves and the old San Clemente Casino is one of them.  According to this article on the San Clemente Times website, A new proposed plan by developer Steve Delson, who owns the property in the area of North Beach, has revised his plan to preserve the historic dance hall structure and the “patio of the stars.”  His plan is to build a mixed use residential and commercial property that will include four new San Clemente condos and a high-end restaurant that will be dinner-focused and seat 150 people.  The vice president of the San Clemente Historical society does not approve of the plan and it will now move to be reviewed by the Design Committee, the Planning Commission, and then returned back to City Council for a vote.  For more information, please visit: SanClemente.org

For more information on San Clemente homes and condos for sale, including in the Talega real estate market, please do not hesitate to explore the various sections of our website and/or contact us!

According to this article on CNN, our nation’s homes are the most affordable in over two decades.  As measured by the Housing Opportunity Index, the price declines coupled with low interest rates are bringing more buyers back into the market as they can actually afford to buy now.  On a local level, this has been the case in the San Clemente real estate market, including Talega real estate, where more homes and condos have sold in each month of 2009 as compared to 2008 as consumer confidence has been coming back into the marketplace with homes becoming more affordable.

For more information on the affordability of San Clemente homes and condos for sale, please contact us.