Tag Archives: san diego

Hydro Plan Proposed for San Diego County

Posted on July 14, 2013 | Leave a comment

A major new hydroelectric project could vie to fill the energy gap from the shutdown of the San Onofre nuclear plant, according to an announcement Monday by the San Diego County Water Authority.

The water authority is assessing the potential for a pumped-water storage facility above the existing San Vicente Reservoir north of Lakeside, owned by the City of San Diego. Power would be generated during periods of high-electricity demand by allowing water to flow downhill to the recently expanded main reservoir, to be pumped back up during periods of lower electricity needs.

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The authority already operates a 40-megawatt pumped storage project connecting Hodges Reservoir and Olivenhain Reservoir, in which water falls 770 feet through a 1.25-mile pipeline.

At San Vicente, authorities are contemplating a much larger facility capable of producing as much as 500 megawatts of electricity in short bursts — enough to power about 325,000 homes.

With the announcement in early June of San Onofre’s permanent retirement, utility officials have pushed state regulators to authorize construction of a new, rapid-fire natural gas plant south of San Diego in unincorporated Otay Mesa.

San Diego Gas & Electric asserts that the Pio Pico Energy Center — a 300 megawatt, quick-start power plant — is needed to ensure reliable supplies as the state ramps up production of large-scale wind and solar plants, whose production fluctuates with the weather. A coalition of environmentalists and consumer advocates say SDG&E overstated the immediate need for new generators and shortchanged contributions of energy efficiency and other utility-run conservation programs paid for by customers.

The pumped storage project at San Vicente would rely on a new reservoir holding 10,000-acre-feet of water, located at a higher altitude. Four potential sites have been identified adjacent to the main reservoir or nearby.

The San Vicente Reservoir, by comparison, will hold up to 242,000 acre-feet of water when construction to expand the dam is completed later this year.

Home Seller Confidence Improving

Posted on June 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

The share of Americans who believe now is a good time to sell a home has risen, says a survey from mortgage giant Fannie Mae on Monday.

Of those surveyed in May, 40 percent felt confident about their ability to sell, up from 30 percent in April and up 16 percent from the same time a year ago. The uptick, the largest one in the survey’s three-year history, is likely linked to news of home-price increases.

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“Sentiment toward selling a home appears to be catching up with the strengthening housing market,” said Fannie Mae chief economist Doug Duncan, in a statement.

Potential buyers are feeling more confident, the survey says. Seventy-six percent of those surveyed said it’s a good time to buy a home. That’s the highest percentage in the survey’s history.

Realtor Mike Wolf, of Ascent Real Estate in San Diego, says the trends from the report are also reflected locally.

“I think it’s a good time to do something, whether it’s buying or selling,” Wolf said.

Because of recent home-price gains, some property owners who believe they’re still trapped by negative equity could be in a position now to sell. However, fear and lack of knowledge may be keeping some potential sellers from jumping into the hot real estate market, Wolf said. He says there’s a lot of waiting-and-seeing.

Wolf’s observations are supported by the number of homes on the market. There are about 4,800 listings right now, a nearly 7 percent increase from last month but a 22 percent drop from a year ago, according to numbers from the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors. The month-to-month uptick can be attributed to seasonality — people tend to move during the summer. Despite that uptick, Wolf says the county is still undersupplied.

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San Diego – Local Foreclosures Inch Up

Posted on May 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

San Diego foreclosures and mortgage defaults rose in April, but those numbers remain lower than normal in light of an improving economy and rising home prices, suggests a report from real estate tracker DataQuick on Tuesday.

Notices of default, which signal the start of the foreclosure process, have risen for the past three months to 712 in April. Despite that run-up, they’re about 46 percent lower than the same time a year ago. The county has seen year-over-year drops in mortgage defaults for the past 10 months. They peaked at 3,832 in March 2009.

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Foreclosures rose 12 percent to 280, when comparing March to April tallies. They’ve been about halved from a year ago and have seen annual drops for the past 31 months. Trustee deeds, which signal a foreclosure, peaked at 2,004 in July 2008.

Rising home prices and the increased use of government mortgage programs are some of the likely reasons for falling mortgage distress countywide, said Mark Goldman, a real estate professor at San Diego State University.

When home values rise, more property owners may sell because they’re less likely to be underwater on their mortgages, Goldman said. In April, prices hit the highest level in five years, as distressed home sales continue to dwindle.

Also, government programs have been helping certain underwater homeowners refinance their mortgages to lower payments, which can help them stay in their homes, Goldman said. The refinancing market has been “very active,” Goldman said, because mortgage rates are so attractive. The 30-year fixed rate averaged 3.51 percent last week, while the 15-year fixed was 2.69 percent, according to Freddie Mac.

Foreclosures and mortgage defaults continue to fluctuate but are generally trending down. So whatever happened to the foreclosure surge some real estate experts predicted roughly two years ago?

Tag Archives: san diego

Hydro Plan Proposed for San Diego County

Home Seller Confidence Improving

San Diego – Local Foreclosures Inch Up

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