There are more new homes for sale in San Diego County this year, but shoppers looking for that traditional single-family home still have fewer options than a decade ago.
Unless they are looking for a townhouse.
Most new homes — from San Marcos to Chula Vista — are townhouses. New traditional, single-family homes are rare and come at a premium. Lawmakers across the region have increased density to fit more homes into limited space, and, more so now than ever, that means shoppers looking for new properties will likely forgo a large yard and white-picket fence.
Townhouses used to be a rarity in new home building, but since mid-2023, they have outpaced single-family construction. Most consumer studies have found buyers would prefer a single-family house, but construction trends reflect reality in the region: There is less available land for large lots, and townhouses are naturally more affordable for middle-income buyers.
An analysis of new homes by The San Diego Union-Tribune using data provided by developers found around 800 new townhouses for sale this year, compared to roughly 150 single-family homes.
There were 69 total new home projects in San Diego County in February, said market researcher Zonda. That’s compared to 55 at the same time last year, but down from an average of roughly 130 projects from 2017 to 2020. Zonda defines a home project as one with five or more homes for sale. It said there were 39 townhouse projects, compared to 30 for single-family.
Single-family home prices range from $919,900 at Cypress Point in Oceanside to $2.1 million at Mountain House in Escondido. Townhouse projects have a much bigger range: From $562,900 at Citrus Bay in Chula Vista to $1.28 million at Coral Springs in Carlsbad.
Paul Barnes, a division president for Shea Homes, said he expects within a decade that 90% of its building will be attached housing, which is townhouses and condos. That compares to 60% now and 25% around 15 years ago.
Shea Homes is the second-biggest home builder in San Diego County, behind Lennar, so its plans will play a large part in shaping the region for years to come. Barnes said developers are reacting to a steady stream of new residential housing laws, which favor more homes per lot.
“Our region is becoming more dense,” Barnes said. “That is a story that will continue in the future.”
Around 11 new single-family homes are expected to be for sale at Cypress Point in Oceanside. Home prices range from $949,990 to $981,990 and range from 1,751 to 1,922 square feet. (KB Home)
Around 93 new townhouses are expected to be for sale at Anden in Chula Vista’s Otay Ranch. Home prices start in the low $700,000s and range from 1,463 to 2,162 square feet. (HomeFed)
Roughly 69 new townhomes are expected to be for sale at Coral Springs in Carlsbad. Home prices range from $1,189,990 to $1,289,990 and range from 1,994 to 2,212 square feet. (KB Home)
Roughly 13 new single-family homes are expected to be for sale at Dixon Trail in Escondido. Home prices range from $1,064,990 to $1,234,990 and range from 2,058 to 3,031 square feet. (KB Home)
Around 50 new townhouses are expected to be for sale at Gateway in El Cajon. Home prices range from $629,990 to $707,990 and range from 1,448 to 1,709 square feet. (KB Home)
Around 54 new townhomes are expected to be for sale at Coral Ridge in Carlsbad. Home prices range from $998,000 to $1,110,990 and range from 1,688 to 1,739 square feet. (KB Home)
Around 38 new townhouses are expected to be for sale at Rosegate in Escondido. Home prices range from $649,990 to $843,990 and range from 1,211 to 1,745 square feet. (KB Home)
Around 41 new townhomes are expected to be for sale at Dorsey in 3Roots in Sorrento Mesa. Home prices range from the low $800,000s to low $1 millions and range from 1,230 to 1,609 square feet. (CalWest)
New Homes 2026; Around 65 new two-story townhouses are expected to be for sale at Citrus Bay in Chula Vista. Home prices range from $553,900 to $754,900 and range from 1,102 to 1,776 square feet. (CalWest)
New Homes 2026: Roughly 12 new single-family homes are expected to be for sale at Mountain House in Escondido. Home prices range from $1,595,900 to $2,143,900 and range from 2,726 to 3,860 square feet. (CalWest)
New Homes 2026: Roughly 18 new single-family homes are expected to be for sale at Aero at 3Roots in Sorrento Mesa. Home prices start around $1 million and range from 1,875 to 2,121 square feet. (CalWest)
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Around 11 new single-family homes are expected to be for sale at Cypress Point in Oceanside. Home prices range from $949,990 to $981,990 and range from 1,751 to 1,922 square feet. (KB Home)
Townhouses are usually smaller than single-family homes, but they can vary. Of the new projects confirmed this year, townhouses average 1,415 square feet to 1,859 square feet. That compares to an average of 2,227 square feet to 2,813 square feet for new single-family homes.
San Diego housing analyst Gary London has pushed the benefits of townhouses for years as a way to lower costs, maximize limited space, and create what he calls “light density” to avoid major neighborhood opposition.
“When developers elect to build higher-density townhomes or rowhomes, they are trying to fill a niche that was formerly filled by single-family homes,” he said. “Most people can’t afford single-family homes in San Diego.”
London said the most expensive part of a house in the county is the land. By reducing lot sizes and keeping the size of a property sufficient for a family, it reduces the cost substantially.
He said he was dismayed by the lack of new homes, even if it might be up from last year; very few condos are being built, because of strict statewide defect legislation that often scares off developers; and most new housing is outside the city of San Diego.
A new community grows in El Cajon
Viviana Montano, 26, and her husband were fed up with constant rent increases.
About two years ago, just as construction was starting, they bought a property at Gateway in El Cajon, where townhouses go for $629,990 to $729,990. Developer KB Home recently released a batch of 50 more homes.
“We were tired of renting,” Montano said. “It’s good because (the mortgage) is always the same.”
She was out walking her 2-year-old golden retriever Codek on the day the Union-Tribune visited the site. Montano said she was pleased with their purchase: Their four-bedroom townhouse is big enough for friends and family to stay over, and they can take the San Diego Trolley to go downtown.
Gateway is the type of project urban planners swoon over. It’s about a 10-minute walk to the El Cajon Transit Center, home to numerous county and Greyhound bus lines and three trolley lines that lead all over the county: The copper, green and orange lines. There’s also a shuttle to Sycuan Casino
The townhouse development is on a section of the remodeled El Cajon Boulevard, a more than $2.5 million streetscape improvement effort. City Council approved the project in late 2020 to take one of the area’s busiest streets, mostly home to used car dealerships, into a walkable area with traffic calming elements (roundabouts, slower speeds), public plazas, widened sidewalks, more visible crosswalks, new street lighting and numerous trees and plants.
An outdoor courtyard at the Gateway townhome development in El Cajon. (Zoë Meyers / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The pool at the Gateway townhome development in El Cajon. (Zoë Meyers / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Steve Ruffner, a senior vice president at KB Home, in one of the company’s new Gateway townhomes in El Cajon in early March. (Zoë Meyers / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Each townhome at the Gateway development in El Cajon has its own garage. (Zoë Meyers / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The kitchen and living area of a new home in the Gateway townhome development in El Cajon. (Zoë Meyers / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
A bedroom in a new home in the Gateway townhome development in El Cajon. (Zoë Meyers / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
A bedroom in the Gateway townhome development in El Cajon.(Zoë Meyers / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The kitchen of a new home in the Gateway townhome development in El Cajon. (Zoë Meyers / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Gateway townhouses are some of the new homes available this year in San Diego County. (Zoë Meyers / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Gateway townhouses in El Cajon in early March. (Zoë Meyers / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
A view looking towards El Cajon Boulevard and the mountains from a home in the Gateway development. (Zoë Meyers / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
A bedroom and laundry area in a new home in the Gateway townhome development in El Cajon. (Zoë Meyers / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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An outdoor courtyard at the Gateway townhome development in El Cajon. (Zoë Meyers / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Steve Ruffner, a senior vice president at KB Home, said the developer identified the site for Gateway after the streetscape project was approved. He pointed out several businesses that had popped up along the route and said it was a much safer place for a young family to walk around.
Single-family homes are often the dream in San Diego, with no homeowner association fees, a yard, and you don’t have to share a wall with anyone. Still, Ruffner said the developer likes to focus on first-time homebuyers, and townhouses are a way to get in the market.
“Townhomes are key,” he said, “to get to a price that’s attainable for a working family.”
Ruffner said the homes in Gateway were selling at a pace of about one a week. Like the market as a whole, large mortgage rate swings have hampered buyers. Still, Gateway is one of the most affordable new home projects in the county and comes with perks: A swimming pool, a small park, and it is a gated community.
Gateway is somewhat unique in new home development because it has no Mello-Roos fees. Most of Chula Vista’s Otay Ranch, where most new housing in the county has been built in the past decade, falls under a Mello-Roos tax district, where a special tax is levied in addition to property taxes to pay for infrastructure.
There are two models at the development: The three-bedroom, three-bathroom model is 1,488 square feet and has a two-car garage. It starts at $629,990. The other model has four bedrooms and four bathrooms, a two-car garage, and is 1,709 square feet. It starts at $729,990.
Ruffner said most new buyers at Gateway, roughly 70%, are 25 to 39 years old.
Hill District: San Diego County’s latest new home hub
There is just about every type of home at The Hill District in San Marcos, a masterplan community near CSU San Marcos that will include 600 homes.
Developers are betting buyers will want to live in the growing North City development, which the Hill District is a part of. The $1 billion masterplan development includes student housing, a hotel, restaurants, subsidized housing, parks, retail and hospitals. The North City plan was approved in 2009, and its vision is a true downtown for North San Diego County.
In late December, San Diego County’s largest new apartment building of the year opened in the development. The 222 North City complex has 458 apartments.
Hill District is the for-sale focal point for North City with townhouses, single-family homes and condos. It also has unique home types: A kind of duplex, which is basically two large single-family homes that are connected through a garage, and what Shea Homes calls “single-family detached condos,” which are detached homes that share communal space around the garages.
Prices range in the mid-$600,000s for townhouses, and $1.1 million and up for single-family homes.
Paul Barnes, a division president at Shea Homes, discusses future plans for the Hill District in San Marcos. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Homes in the new Hill District community in San Marcos. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Aerial view of homes in the new Hill District community in San Marcos. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Homes in the new Hill District community in San Marcos in early April. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Homes under construction in the Hill District of San Marcos. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Paul Barnes, a division president of Shea Homes, walks through the construction site for the clubhouse at the new master-planned community of Hill District in San Marcos. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Homes in the new Hill District community in San Marcos in early April. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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Paul Barnes, a division president at Shea Homes, discusses future plans for the Hill District in San Marcos. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Lennar and Shea Homes are building the homes. The Union-Tribune recently toured the 80-acre Hill District site, walking through dusty fields that will become a community park, and a large recreation center with a gym (managed by Fit, which has luxury gyms in Mission Beach and near Petco Park) and a 1,465-square-foot pool.
“This is the UTC of North County,” said Barnes, the Shea Homes division president. “It’s got a vibe and everything.”
Hill District takes up around 40 acres that will open in phases over the next three years, with only about a quarter of the planned homes finished. The first owners started moving in fall, and it’s been a steady stream of U-Haul trucks and new families piling in ever since.
Elizabeth Hunten, Shea Homes’ senior community representative for Hill District, said most buyers are in their late 20s to early 40s and tend to be recently married or engaged. She said buyers are often employed in the life sciences industry in University Center or Sorrento Valley, or are medical professionals, especially nurses at the nearby Kaiser Permanente San Marcos Medical Center.
An advantage for developers of Hill District is that it comes with a built-in workforce. In addition to CSU San Marcos and Kaiser Permanente, there are two San Diego County office buildings (County Assessor and Department of Weights and Measures) and a new large Scripps hospital under construction with a 200- to 250-bed full-service hospital and a 150,000- to 200,000-square-foot ambulatory care building.
Even with two different developers, Hill District homes have a similar contemporary feel, getting away from the Spanish colonial style that dominates most new home development in Southern California.
There may still be trade-offs to living in the development. It is in a Mello-Roos district, which increases costs in addition to homeowner association fees. It could also make for a longer commute if a resident works downtown or farther south. There is a Sprinter light rail station at the university, but it could be a 20-minute to 30-minute walk from different points at Hill District.
London, the San Diego housing analyst with London Moeder Advisors, said Hill District is the type of development that is needed throughout the region. Last summer, he was part of a group that presented a report to the San Diego City Council that urged them to reduce residential lot size requirements.
As of right now, you couldn’t build a Hill District-style development in much of the city. There is a 5,000-square-foot minimum lot requirement across more than 80% of San Diego — a rule that’s been on the books since 1923.
“We need to do this,” he said of allowing denser housing, “or we’ll continue to see an exodus out of San Diego.”