Absolutely Amazing $2 Million Dollar San Diego Houses- what you need to know
If you’re looking to buy homes around the $2 million dollar price range in San Diego and you’re wondering what kind of home that will buy you, what areas of town to take a look at, then you’re in the right place. This article discusses what kind of homes $2 million dollars will buy you in San Diego, California. We’re going to look at three main categories of areas and that’s central San Diego, coastal San Diego, and the northern suburbs.
Burlingame – San Diego
Starting in central San Diego, in this price range – the first place that I would take a look at, which most people don’t talk about, is the neighborhood of Burlingame. Burlingame is technically situated in the community of North Park and it’s nestled just between the North Park and South Park neighborhoods. It’s a gorgeous, beautiful, old neighborhood. Most of the homes were built between the 1890s and 1920s, although there are a few modern homes that have been rebuilt more recently.
You’re going to typically find some larger homes here and you’re typically going to get around 3 to 5 bedrooms. These homes are going to range in size from around 2,000-3,000 square feet and the lot sizes are going to be about 6,000-9,000 square feet. Most of the homes are going to be Spanish-style, Craftsman-style, and maybe a small mix of Victorian homes thrown in there.
It’s situated in super central San Diego and has fairly easy freeway access, although not too close to the freeway ,with you don’t get a lot of traffic from the freeway , it’s situated right next to South Park, which is a super quaint, quiet town with all kinds of shops and restaurants that are just absolutely worth checking out, It’s also right next to North Park, which is a super vibrant area of San Diego with tons of breweries, bars, restaurants and lots of things to do right next to Balboa Park. And it’s just a short trip to downtown in about 10 minutes. Also an interesting feature of Burlingame, that you don’t see anywhere, else is that they actually have pink sidewalks.
Mission Hills – San Diego
The next area in central San Diego in this price range of around $2 million is the neighborhood of Mission Hills. This is located immediately adjacent to Hillcrest, so it kind of bleeds into each other. It is located just outside of Old Town and is next to Presidio Fort, an old Spanish fort here in San Diego, which is a historic landmark for us. The homes here are Craftsman-style, Spanish-style, as well as some Victorian-style.
It’s a very historic neighborhood here in San Diego and my dad actually grew up in Mission Hills. The homes in this price range are going to get you about a 3 bedroom, maybe a 4 bedroom home and about 1,800 to 2,500 square foot home. and the lot sizes are going to vary from about 3,000-6,000square feet.
Now the awesome thing about Mission Hills is that you’re right next to Hillcrest which is a very vibrant community and has lots and lots of restaurants. You’re near Balboa Park, you can get on the freeway and the beach quickly. Or you can head up the freeway if you work in biotech to Sorrento Valley and University City, just north a few minutes. You’re close to everything as well but you’re tucked away. It’s a really beautiful area, a great walking community, with lots of things to do nearby.
City of Coronado
Next, we’re going to move to the coastal areas of San Diego, and we’re going to start in the south and then work our way north up the coast so we’re going to start with the town of Coronado.
Coronado is its own city and it’s often referred to as an island. It’s technically a giant peninsula connected by a small strip of land called Silver Strand but it juts out into the San Diego Bay creating the barrier to create the bay for San Diego Bay.
It is an incredible town and it is home to a North Island Naval Air Station. It’s home to the Hotel del Coronado that’s been welcoming visitors for over a hundred years including a lot of really famous movie stars back in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. It’s also home to the Navy Seals, one of our elite military special forces.
It also has tons of great shopping right down Orange Avenue that’s going to be the main drag for all the shopping. There are lots of restaurants, some nice bars, boutique shopping, and one of my favorite places to go: MooTime Creamery for ice cream.
Now the homes in this price range are going to be a little bit more. You’re going to find homes in the $2M price range in the interior of Coronado Island and not really on the coast. Although, you might have some views of the bay or the ocean depending on where you’re situated. Now – Coronado is very flat so when I say a view, it’s just depending on if you happen to be on a corridor that’s looking at the bay.
These homes are going to generally be around 3 bedrooms, maybe 4 bedrooms and they’re going to range from about 1,400 – 2,000 square feet. The lot sizes are going to be a bit smaller as well – around 3,000-4,000square feet. There’s a wide range of the years built of these homes and this is going to be from the late 1800s up to the 2020s.
That being said, you’re going to have a wide mix of homes from cottage-style homes,maybe some Craftsman, some mid-century modern homes, and some very modern, contemporary homes as well. Now as you move to the coast of Coronado this is when the prices get much higher and you’re going to be paying into the $4 -$10 million range.
Point Loma – San Diego
Now we’re going to move north to Point Loma. This is back in the city of San Diego, across from Coronado Island. This actually is what creates the channel into San Diego Bay. It is a hill and also a peninsula, so you have a lot of potential views with the homes here on the south side of Point Loma as it overlooks Coronado, San Diego Bay, Downtown, Mexico, and East San Diego County. Over on the north side, you’re going to be situated in a place where you can see the scenic views of the Pacific Ocean.
There’s so much to do in Point Loma. There are great beaches, restaurants, and shopping. A huge shopping complex, called Liberty Station, is located here – it has a huge mix of grocery stores, restaurants, and bars. A cool feature of Liberty Station is the public market, which is modeled after Pike’s Place up in Seattle. The intent here is that they have a whole bunch of little boutiques, restaurants, and shops. You can shop and then continue on, going to a bunch of restaurants and go into the Community Dining Area and enjoy your food there. There’s a great bar in there called Bottle Craft, that serves excellent beer and wine.
Point Loma is also home to several marinas; you’ve got Shelter Island and a Harbor Island, so there are tons of boats there. If you happen to have a boat and you want to live near a dock, this would be a great area for you to store and dock your boat. Then you can live nearby in a wonderful home.
Just like Coronado, there is a wide range of homes here. You’re going to see homes built in the early 1900s up to the 2020s. You’ll be able to see cottage-style, Craftsman-style, Spanish-style, Mid-century modern, and more contemporary homes. Lot sizes are going to be around 4,000 square feet and maybe up to 6,000 square feet. The homes themselves are going to be around 1,800 to 2,500 square feet, generally about 3-4 bedrooms. As you get into the higher price ranges, you’re going to get larger homes and better views.
North Pacific Beach and South La Jolla
Moving up the coast a little bit, we move into North Pacific Beach and South La Jolla. North Pacific Beach and South La Jolla are essentially the south side of Mt. Soledad. On the south side of La Jolla, you’re pretty much going to be on the hill, whereas North Pacific Beach is going to be more on the flat side of Pacific Beach. North Pacific Beach is where you start to climb up the hill from Pacific Beach onto La Jolla. So these two zip codes – 92037 and 92109, bleed into each other there.
A lot of people move to Pacific Beach when they first move to San Diego, so they rent a place in downtown Pacific Beach, as close to the beach as possible. They can get to the water to surf and go hit all the bars and clubs, and then they move out to other areas like North Pacific Beach and South La Jolla as these areas are much more family-oriented.
It’s away from all the nightlife, so they’re great family-oriented communities with walk-friendly activities and beautiful homes here. The median price for homes in the Pacific Beach right now is $1.75 million versus La Jolla, which is over $3 million for the median price.
La Jolla’s south side offers better value for the money as you get closer to Pacific Beach. La Jolla residences offer 2,000 to 2,500 square feet and 3 to 4 bedrooms. Homes generally cost between $2 million and $2.5 million. The lots are 3,000-5,000 square feet. These homes were built from the early 1900s until the 2020s, with a mix of cottage-style, Craftsman, modern contemporary, and some new construction homes on larger lots.
Of course, one advantage of being in Pacific Beach is that you are near the beach. Depending on where you live, you could walk or bike to it or drive a short distance. There is a fantastic venue for surfing on the Pacific Beach, as well as miles and miles of sandy beach between Mission Hills and Pacific Beach.
Carmel Valley
As we continue heading up the coast, we’re going to move into Carmel Valley and Pacific Highlands Ranch. The median price in this area is $2.25 million; most of these homes are east of Interstate 5, rather than west of it. Most of these homes we’ve been talking about so far were coastal; however, you’re still very close to the water—you’re close to the town of Del Mar, which we’ll discuss next.
You’re going to have larger homes for the price point here as well. A lot of these homes were built in the 1990s and early 2000s. They’re going to be larger around 5 bedrooms and about 2,200 to 3,000 square feet and the lot sizes are going to be larger at 5,000 to 8,000 square feet. Oftentimes these homes will have pools with them as well. Most of these are going to be a modern Spanish style two-story home with very few single-story homes in Carmel Valley or Pacific Highlands Ranch.
Carmel Valley, Pacific Highlands Ranch, and La Jolla are near UCSD and University City, which are home to many biotech companies. Because of this, many people that work in these biotech hubs choose to live in these areas. Carmel Valley is also a family-friendly neighborhood with lots of homes for sale under $2 million. If you’re looking for homes over $2 million, Del Mar and Coronado are both nearby.
Del Mar is located just West of the 5 Freeway and East of Pacific Highway (Highway 101). Many homes around Del Mar were built in the 1970s and 1980s. Lot sizes are around 2,000 to 2,500 square feet and around four to five thousand square feet. Every once in a while you will get a pool with these and potentially some views as well. A lot of these homes in this price range are going to be in the Del Mar Heights neighborhood of Del Mar.
Solana Beach, Cardiff, & Encinitas
Continuing up the 101 Highway into Solana Beach, Cardiff, and Encinitas, you can still find homes in the $2 million price range west of the 5 freeway in the neighborhood of Solana Beach and Cardiff are separate towns in the county of San Diego. Del Mar, Solana beach, Encinitas, and Carlsbad, these are all going to be the different towns within the county of San Diego that we’re talking about.
Now in Solana beach as I mentioned you can go west of 5 Freeway and still find some $2 million homes. These are generally going to be about 3-4 bedrooms. With lot sizes right around two thousand to twenty-five hundred square feet, and most of these are going to be older homes built in the mid-century the 1960s maybe 1970s.
As you get into Encinitas, you’re pretty much going to have to be east of the 5 to get into this $2 million price range, and you’re going to have a lot of older homes as well built in the 1960s, But you’re going to have much larger lot sizes as well ranging from about eight thousand to fifteen thousand square feet, and you’re also going to find homes that are about 3-4 bedrooms and about 2,000 – 2,500 square feet.
Carlsbad
Now we move north into the town of Carlsbad. Carlsbad extends from the coast into the very heart of the city, and most of the homes we’ll be discussing in this price range are actually located a little bit more inland. There are a few highly desirable areas in Carlsbad, including Bressi Ranch, La Costa, and San Elijo Hills.
These homes are generally built during the 1990s through the early 2000s and offer between four and five bedrooms, with about 2,500 to 4,000 square feet of living space. There will often be pools and great views in these homes as well. The lot sizes vary from about 10,000 to 10,000 square feet or more in Bressi Ranch.
In San Elijo Hills you can find some homes that are more around the 1.25 to 1.5 million range as well. All these homes are going to be modern Spanish-style or Mediterranean-style homes. Carlsbad is also home to several gated communities as well.
Scripps Ranch
Now we’re going to move inland to the north inland suburbs. The communities of Scripps Ranch, Rancho Bernardo, and 4S Ranch. Scripps Ranch is located right off the 15 freeway, very near to Mira Mesa. It has fantastic schools. It’s very well known for its schools and is very family-oriented. This is really the sweet spot for this price range of right around $1.8 million – $2.2 million. There are a lot of homes in this price range.
There also are homes that are closer to the $1.25 million – $1.5 million range. that you can get incredibly large homes with great value for you as well, especially as compared to Carmel valley. It’s a much lower price point for the same type of home that you’re going to get in. So if you’re willing to drive a little further to the beach or potentially to work, then Scripps Ranch might be a fantastic option for you at the median price.
Scripps Ranch, which is home to Stonebridge, boasts some of the most expansive and open floor plans in Scripps Ranch. You can expect to find 6 bedroom homes with about 3,000 to 4,500 square feet of space and between a third and half an acre of land.
So you’re oftentimes going to have a pool and a view as well. These homes are much more modern and were built in the early 2000s up to about 2020. They’re going to be very modern amenities in these homes. With very large open floor plans two-story beautiful homes.
The other community is Whispering Ridge, which is going to be in the south part of Scripps Ranch. These homes range from 3,000 to 5,000 square feet, also 5-6 bedrooms and larger lot sizes as well. Ranging from about one-third of an acre up to about three-quarters of an acre, this area is located just outside of the well-known eucalyptus grove in Scripps Ranch. Now these homes, as far as their age, is going to be kind of a wide range anywhere from the 1970s up until around 2020.
Rancho Bernardo & 4S Ranch
And finally, we’ll take a look at Rancho Bernardo and the community of 4S Ranch. This is just to the north of Scripps Ranch. This is a fantastic community. 4S Ranch is super well known here in San Diego for being very family-friendly, and it has fantastic shopping right there in 4S Ranch. These homes are going to be on the larger size, with lot sizes ranging from about 3,000 to 4,500 square feet. Oftentimes you’re going to get a pool with it and the lot sizes are going to be about 6,000 to 8,000 square feet.
Most of these homes are going to be very modern track-style homes. Modern Spanish-style homes were mostly built in the early 2000s. In the community of Rancho Bernardo, you’re going to find similar homes as you get into the actual Rancho Bernardo versus 4S Ranch. Some of the homes might be a little bit older, built in the 1980s and 1990s versus the early 2000s but you’re going to find similar size in terms of four to six bedrooms and three thousand to forty-five hundred square foot homes as well.
That’s an overview of $2 Million dollar homes in San Diego. If you’re looking for a home here in San Diego in this price range or any other price range, please feel free to reach out to me. I would love to help you. Please call, text or email me and let’s have a conversation about how we can put our proven strategies to work to get your offer accepted and get you into a million-dollar home as quickly as possible!
Curtis Chism, Realtor
858-281-2568 | Mobile
mailto:info@sandiegohomes.io
Chism Team | DRE #02105113
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