Overall La Jolla real estate had the best 4^th quarter sales since 2005, detached homes had the best sales in 5 years while condos had their best sales in 4 years. The detached sales trend is very similar to San Diego detached homes while San Diego condos had their best sales in 5 years. La Jolla condos fell a little short of the overall condo sales improvements. La Jolla had a strong finish in sales for 2009, with 4^th qtr sales representing 30% of annual sales while county wide the 4^th quarter sales represented 26% of total sales. December pending sale activity would seem to indicate some slow down in sales starting in January.

La Jolla inventory has seen a major decline since August. Inventory reductions occurred for both detached homes and condos and equated to a 31% overall reduction in inventory. However, due to the December reduction in pending activity the months supply picture stayed in the 11 to 12 month range, which indicates that downward price pressures still remain in the La Jolla real estate market. The La Jolla months supply is in line with the months supply for high end homes which is in double digits. This is just a sign that the over $1 million market has a supply level that exceeds current demand levels and price trends are downward.

La Jolla real estate price trends are difficult to develop due to the importance on price due to location and the wide variance between low and high prices. However we do see evidence of price declines in La Jolla. Looking at detached homes in a defined map area within La Jolla we do see major declines in prices in 2009 versus 2008. Foreclosures and short sales have had minimal impact on the La Jolla market. Foreclosures comprise 8% and short sales 9% of La Jolla sales in the 4th quarter of 2009.