Just this summer it was almost impossible to find a new San Diego real estate development that cooperated with real estate brokers. If you could find a developer co-opting, it was most likely way below the traditional 3% rate.

Well, just a few short months have passed and a current read of the Sunday homes section of the San Diego Union Tribune shows that though the real estate market does not make discernible moves in a day like the stock market, a couple of months can easily define the local real estate trends.

Here are just a few of the incentives noted in the home section of a very recent Sundays paper: 4% broker co-op, free plasma screen TV, $1,000 off closing costs, $2,500 in design center upgrades, $10,000 in incentives, one year HOA fees paid, $5,000 in closing costs, $2,000 closing cost credit, washer, dryer & refrigerator included, $25,000 in incentives or cash price reductions, $1,000 gift certificate, and no HOA fees for 2 years! To view all San Diego MLS listings, visit: http://www.brokerforyou.com

The grand opening long buyer lines, multiple offers, offers above the asking price and homes selling within days of being listed are just fond memories now. However, due to the huge home appreciation all San Diego real estate has seen, with the average home up 100% in the past 5 years, combined with the boom in 100% adjustable/interest only loans, the stage is set for what is sure to be mind-numbing depreciation.

Yes, we have started on the down leg of the typical Bell Curve and the probability of surpassing our approximate 20% drop in San Diego home values experienced from 1990 thru 1996, seem assured. Plus, as real estate trends seem to start in the West and than move east, any U.S. real estate market that experienced huge price appreciation the past five years, will experience the same depreciation in real estate residential values.

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