Having worked in real estate and finance for more than 25 years, I’m often asked about the state of the San Diego market. One of the most common questions I hear is: does buying a home in San Diego represent a good long term investment? My answer is always a resounding yes!

While predicting the future is a craft best left to fortune tellers, real estate professionals are trained to review historical data and help their clients make informed decisions about investment opportunities. The internet offers an overabundance of statistical evidence that supports my position; both local and national trends suggest that real estate is a great, if not the best, long term investment vehicle.

I purchased my first home in San Diego County in 1982. Today that home is worth three times what I paid for it, even accounting for the value lost over the past year in our changing real estate landscape. This is not a unique situation.

Those of us working in the real estate industry can name many other reasons why buying a home in San Diego is a strong long-term investment. Consider factors like tax benefits of interest deductions and depreciation, leverage, cash flow and appreciation of our home values. As professionals, we understand that homeownership enhances not only our lives, but our financial situations as well.

Investor buyers recognize the tremendous opportunities in San Diego and are returning to our market in significant numbers. Smart investors see that the real estate landscape is littered with bank-owned repossessions and homeowners facing short sales, and they are excited by it! Confident that the market is gaining strength and will appreciate over time, investors know that “buying low” and “selling high” is a winning strategy. San Diego’s recovery, just like after the 90′s, will be quicker and faster than almost any other area of the country.

Moreover, interest rates are incredibly low. Anyone who listens to the news is familiar the phrase “historic lows”; you may have even used it in your own conversations. Despite the implosion of the mortgage market, people are still able to buy homes at rates that my father couldn’t even envision. These lower rates add to buying power, increase the affordability of housing and can save you tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a home loan.

Another unique benefit to home ownership is that you can live in your investment. And who can imagine a better place to live than San Diego? We live in a paradise with perfect weather and geographical boundaries that naturally limit our growth, thus making San Diego even more coveted. Every year we have a net gain of thousands of people moving here from all over the world, and buying Real Estate. Home prices have no place to go but up!

Do I believe that real estate in San Diego County is a good long term investment? My answer remains a resounding yes!