Nobody was calling the San Diego real estate market affordable back in 2019, when the median price for single-family homes peaked at $673,000. But we were practically wistful after summer 2020 pushed that number to $741,180. And even that looks adorable in retrospect, as a frenzy of activity in 2021 vaulted the median home price to $873,250 by June. This data, compiled by online brokerage and listing aggregator Redfin, reveals just how bleak the landscape is for aspiring home buyers.
It’s difficult to uncouple the alarming rise in home values from the pandemic. Conventional wisdom says that millions of white-collar Americans shifted to remote work all at once, prompting a wholesale change in housing needs that placed a premium on extra square footage.
According to Taylor Marr, a deputy chief economist at Redfin, urban and suburban prices per square foot typically rise at similar rates, but that changed in 2020. In many suburban areas, the median price per square foot pushed over $400—and even $500—meaning buyers were forced to redefine what they consider to be a million-dollar home. But the desire for home offices is only part of the story.
Over the past two years, historically low interest rates, and millennials coming of age as home buyers, increased demand while supply remained on par with previous years. And unlike previous years, new listings in 2019 would remain on the market for more than three weeks. In 2021, the median selling time dropped to nine days.
Any given weekend, home buyers targeting certain neighborhoods—Mount Helix, Poway, Carmel Valley, and San Carlos—would find only a handful of options available. As Chris Anderson, president of the San Diego Association of Realtors, explains, this made the notion of a dream home unattainable, as frustrated buyers grew increasingly aggressive with their offers. “If there’s 30 offers and yours doesn’t get taken,” she says, “the other 29 are going to be against you on the next one, too.”
By now we’ve all heard the shocking tales. Bidding wars pushing values eight percent above asking price. High-paid tech workers from San Francisco stepping in with an all-cash offer to snare a listing they’ve never seen in person.
Anderson confirms the rumor that people have been buying homes “sight unseen,” noting that some out-of-town buyers have been ready to board a plane to get the jump on a listing, but others have been satisfied with video walk-throughs. She’s been a Realtor since 1989, but says “the game has changed.” She’s even gone to a home with a prospective buyer on a FaceTime call so she can walk them through the property.
Out-of-Town Buyers
So how much did Bay Area buyers actually fuel this price spike? To figure it out, Marr points to Redfin home buyer searches, which have proven a reliable predictor of census movements. Recent data shows that 14 percent of searches for San Diego properties came from the Bay Area. This figure may include a set of buyers Anderson has encountered: survivors of recent Northern California wildfires, who received insurance checks after their properties were destroyed. However, the data also shows that, by volume, more than 50 percent of searches came from Los Angeles.
Regardless of their origin, Marr’s research reveals that an out-of-town buyer showed up with a budget 7.6 percent higher than what locals could spend. While metropolitan real estate markets across the country have boomed during the pandemic, he suspects that migrating home buyers fueled a phenomenon relatively unique to San Diego in 2021: Urban homes and condo prices catching up to the gains seen in the suburbs.
The outlook may not be encouraging to San Diegans seeking to own their homes. If there’s any good news to be found, it’s that prices have eased slightly, and with interest rates rising, experts expect the market to slow down.
For first-time buyers, the last glimmer of hope may be condos. “You can pretty much always find a condo,” says Marr. “Just do it when you’re not going to compete with other buyers as much.”
At home with restaurateur and entertainment venue mastermind Ty Hauter
By Kimberly Cunningham | Photography by Found Creative Studio
Ty Hauter, his wife Suzannah, and daughter Presley Royce
Neighborhood Coronado
Stats 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms plus a detached guesthouse
FIREPLACES fireplaces 10 (one in every room)
THEIR STORY: Meet Ty Hauter, the former bouncer turned businessman who has been instrumental in revamping San Diego’s East Village. His company, Good Time Design, owns and operates 11 local restaurants and bars, including the original Whiskey Girl, Bub’s at the Ballpark, and Southpaw Social Club. The most recent, Moonshine Flats, a 10,000-square-foot country rock bar and entertainment venue, just opened in February. He also bought the Palm Restaurant on J Street and has plans for a new concept, set to open this summer. So how does he bring the hustle and bustle of his work life home? He doesn’t, really. Ty and his wife, Suzannah, share a surprisingly quiet existence at their new house in Coronado. As with all of his projects, quality mattered. To help with the details, Suzannah recruited Darcy Kempton of Simply Stunning Spaces, who crafted a cozy yet streamlined look. Paint colors and fabric swatches aside, the house has one star attraction: the couple’s 18-month-old daughter, Presley Royce. She’s a one-of-a-kind design.
At home with restaurateur and entertainment venue mastermind Ty Hauter
By Kimberly Cunningham | Photography by Found Creative Studio
Ty Hauter, his wife Suzannah, and daughter Presley Royce
Neighborhood Coronado
Stats 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms plus a detached guesthouse
FIREPLACES fireplaces 10 (one in every room)
THEIR STORY: Meet Ty Hauter, the former bouncer turned businessman who has been instrumental in revamping San Diego’s East Village. His company, Good Time Design, owns and operates 11 local restaurants and bars, including the original Whiskey Girl, Bub’s at the Ballpark, and Southpaw Social Club. The most recent, Moonshine Flats, a 10,000-square-foot country rock bar and entertainment venue, just opened in February. He also bought the Palm Restaurant on J Street and has plans for a new concept, set to open this summer. So how does he bring the hustle and bustle of his work life home? He doesn’t, really. Ty and his wife, Suzannah, share a surprisingly quiet existence at their new house in Coronado. As with all of his projects, quality mattered. To help with the details, Suzannah recruited Darcy Kempton of Simply Stunning Spaces, who crafted a cozy yet streamlined look. Paint colors and fabric swatches aside, the house has one star attraction: the couple’s 18-month-old daughter, Presley Royce. She’s a one-of-a-kind design.
Growing up in Carlsbad, I never quite understood why people vacationed there. What, so you want to check out the field where I have soccer practice? Pay my orthodontist a visit? Carlsbad just felt like a town by the beach, no better or worse than any other in the country. It took going to college out of state for me to actually understand just how rare a place like Carlsbad is.
Thanksgiving break my freshman year, my first time coming home after three months in the Midwest, my shoulders dropped. I rolled down the windows and drove to lifeguard tower 37—the hangout magnet for Carlsbad’s youths (and, in the summer, tourists)—and the smells of the ocean woke me right up like smelling salts do. I finally got it.
Carlsbad isn’t just a stopover town on your way to something better. It is the destination. Travel + Leisure named Carlsbad one of the top 50 places around the world to travel in 2026. From the whole globe, the travel magazine picked my home. Sure, we’ve got the Flower Fields and Legoland—but now it’s the smaller ships and indier dreams that are giving it street-level character.
It’s not just Carlsbad, either. People have talked about the “North County bubble” for decades—a force field that prevents its residents from traveling south of the 56. It’s often used derogatorily, and it’s a fairly accurate burn.
For decades, living up in North County meant giving up on culture, or at least culture within close proximity. But now, the main expansion of San Diego culture is happening up north. Central San Diego restaurants have started taking notice and are expanding into the area—spurred no doubt by Oceanside’s food boom and the Jeune et Jolie–Campfire–Wildland–Lilo constellation in Carlsbad. City Heights burger joint Key & Cleaver opened a new spot in Oceanside; the owners of Parc Bistro-Brasserie in Bankers Hill opened Parc Lounge in Rancho Santa Fe. Possibly the strongest market indicator is that Sam Fox—one of the most successful restaurateurs west of the Rockies—has started focusing on North County for his concepts. In 2025, he opened both The Henry in Carlsbad and Culinary Dropout in Del Mar.
For the ultimate insider guide, we found a handful of inspiring people who live and create and truly know six North County neighborhoods—San Marcos, Escondido, Oceanside, Leucadia, Rancho Santa Fe, and Vista—and asked them how they’d spend a dream day out and about in their town.
Courtesy of North City Farmers Market
San Marcos
San Marcos is in full renaissance mode. The biggest story is that the grand North City vision is starting to peek through the scaffolding. It’s essentially the North County Downtown that’s been written in the tea leaves and discussed whenever someone gets stuck in traffic at the 5/805 merge: a 200-acre, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use face-changer that’s slated for 2,600 homes, 350,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, 250 hotel rooms, and about a million square feet of offices and labs. Its most recent manifestation is 222 North City—a 12-story residential tower with over 450 residences, rooftop garden, pool cabanas, art installations, and almost 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail (Necessity Coffee, Buona Forchetta, Draft Republic, Milonga Empanadas, and a grocery store anchor on its way).
Which means Restaurant Row is no longer burdened with being the primary caregiver for the hungry or the socially inclined. Patricia Prado-Olmos has watched the city morph during her nearly three-decade tenure at CSUSM, having spent the past six years as the school’s chief community engagement officer. She also just announced her forthcoming retirement at the end of the 2026–2027 school year, so she’ll have even more time to haunt local haunts.
Meet the Local: Patricia Prado-Olmos
Those in the know call the university “Cal State StairMaster” from the Sisyphean amount of stairs on the hillside campus. So, any day at or around CSUSM should start with a homestyle carbo-load (biscuits and gravy) from Mama Kat’s.
“There’s something about this breakfast spot that immediately puts me in a good mood,” she says. Mama Kat’s is also known for its pie (strawberry-rhubarb), which is breakfast if you change your perspective.
After a few hours on campus—with a break to pet the university’s official therapy goldendoodle, Frank, who helps ease finals tremors or apprehension of on-campus stairs—Prado-Olmos will wander into North City, just steps away. She says the almond croissant and coffee at Christophe Rull Patisserie rival Parisian cafés: “It feels like the kind of place you’d stumble across in a much bigger city.”
Rull, a Michelin-trained pastry chef who’s done stints on Netflix (Bake Squad) and Food Network (Super Mega Cakes, Halloween Wars), opened his patisserie last fall. The hype hasn’t cooled off yet: Get there early because the crowds do.
Emma Veidt is an editor at San Diego Magazine. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from the Missouri School of Journalism. She loves running, hiking, and rock climbing, but really, she mostly loves encounters with the street cats around North Park.
Entrepreneurs typically launch businesses because they’re passionate about a product or service, not because they want to manage its finances. While working to carve out a niche in their respective industries and drive their companies forward, many business owners find themselves bogged down by day-to-day accounting. Their existing accounting tools don’t provide the necessary visibility or insight, and they don’t have the time or resources to hire additional staff or a chief financial officer. That’s where NOW CFO comes in.
For more than 20 years, NOW CFO has been pairing businesses across the country with experienced accounting and finance professionals. Its outsourced model allows clients to customize solutions that match their individual needs, size, and financial challenges, whether that’s fractional or interim support, project-based services, or full-time placement.
NOW CFO’s clients range from startups preparing for rapid growth to established companies that need additional financial leadership without the commitment or expense of building an in-house team. However, many of these companies don’t fully understand their needs until they experience a “trigger” event: preparing for an acquisition or capital raise, navigating a first-time audit, or another period of transition. With a team of over 300 consultants nationwide, NOW CFO can start quickly and match the right expert to the right business.
“It’s important for companies to have financial visibility, and we can help them avoid a lot of the potholes that companies often run into,” says Mariah Block, a partner at NOW CFO’s San Diego branch. “Roughly half of our clients have an in-house finance person or department, and we’re resourced for more bandwidth when they need an extra set of hands at the staff or senior accountant level, or the controller or CFO level. Some clients use this a few hours a month and others use multiple people close to full-time. Our model is solution-based and customizable. We’re like a faucet you can turn on and off.”
With NOW CFO, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Solutions are based on the client’s individual goals, challenges, needs, and budget, meaning a client never pays for more than they need. Whether it’s a few hours of executive-level guidance or a full accounting team to support daily operations, NOW CFO meets businesses where they are and grows alongside them.
“We pride ourselves on providing our clients with the right resources at the right rate and being able to evolve as their needs evolve,” says Block.
And clients appreciate on-demand access to cost-effective support designed to improve performance and profitability.
Luxury car storage service Auto Concierge has partnered with NOW CFO to support growth over the past year. The arrangement began with a staff accountant who covered a leave of absence, but as the client’s needs changed, they also added a controller role. This allowed Auto Concierge to put effective processes in place and navigate operational challenges. Lori Church, Auto Concierge’s chief operating officer, says NOW CFO has been an “outstanding resource” and a “true strategic partner.”
“From the controller to the bookkeeper, every professional they’ve placed has brought a high level of expertise, responsiveness, and professionalism to our organization. Their team took the time to understand our business of high-profile clients and needs, adapted quickly to our fast-paced environment, and became a trusted extension of our team,” she says. “As Auto Concierge continues to grow, having a reliable financial partner like NOW CFO has allowed us to strengthen our financial and business operations while remaining focused on delivering exceptional service to our clients.”
Just south of Lake Hodges near 4S Ranch and Poway, Rancho Bernardo is a suburban community that blends residential neighborhoods with industrial pockets, elevated by a decidedly diverse food scene.
Over 60 years ago, this North County neighborhood was once part of a family ranch. Since that time, big tech companies have taken up residence here, including Amazon, Sony Electronics, Oura Ring, HP, Teradata, and ASML. Rancho Bernardo Inn serves as a community hub, with locals frequently meeting at the hotel’s restaurants, golf course, and spa.
Whether it’s work or a round of golf that brings you to Rancho Bernardo, we’ve taken care of the agenda planning with our guide to the area’s best restaurants, activities, and shops.
Courtesy of Avant Restaurant
Rancho Bernardo Restaurants, Bars, and Coffee Shops
Avant
Sample ingredients plucked straight from Rancho Bernardo Inn’s onsite garden and served at their signature restaurant Avant. One of the neighborhood’s most upscale dining options, they serve a French-inspired menu with nods to California, including many seafood options. Don’t miss their more casual sister restaurant Veranda for al fresco dining.
Wood-fired pizzas and handmade pastas are standouts at The Kitchen, Bernardo Winery’s counter-service restaurant specializing in Sicilian flavors. Charcuterie boards and bruschetta make for great starters or snacks while wine tasting.
13330 Paseo Del Verano Norte
Bushfire Kitchen
Fast-casual and family-owned eatery Bushfire Kitchen recently opened a location in Rancho Bernardo, serving sandwiches, bowls, salads, burgers, protein plates, and housemade empanadas. Bushfire prepares comfort food with healthy ingredients, and offers plenty of vegetarian and vegan options.
11962 Bernardo Plaza Drive, Suite 110
The Cork & Craft
Some might call The Cork & Craft an overachiever. This gastropub has an in-house craft brewery and winery: Abnormal Beer and Wine. The more, the merrier. Their sushi menu is definitely worth exploring, but don’t miss other specialties like garlic noodles, chicken wings, and pork belly.
16990 Via Tazon
Courtesy of Carvers Steaks & Chops
Carvers Steaks & Chops
You don’t have to leave Rancho Bernardo to get a white tablecloth steakhouse experience. Carvers Steaks & Chops has prime rib (their best seller), filet, ribeye, porterhouse, New York strip, and other cuts, served alongside crab-stuffed mushrooms, wedge salad, French onion soup, potato skins, and other steakhouse specialties.
1940 Bernardo Plaza Drive
Burma Place
This no-frills Burmese restaurant is known for its traditional tea leaf salad that’s topped with sesame and sunflower seeds, garlic chips, peanuts, tomatoes, jalapeños, fried yellow beans, and fermented green tea leaf dressing. Tucked into a nondescript strip mall, Burma Place is a great takeout option when you want to eat garlic noodles, fried rice, chicken curry, and samosas from the comfort of your couch.
16719 Bernardo Center Drive, Suite A
Phở Ca Dao
Find authentic Vietnamese cuisine at Phở Ca Dao, including favorites like phở noodle soup, vermicelli noodles, broken rice dishes, and spring rolls. One of eight locations throughout San Diego, this family-owned chain uses robot servers for food delivery.
11808 Rancho Bernardo Road, Suite 100
The Kebab Shop
It’s all about the sauce at fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant The Kebab Shop. Smothering your chicken shawarma, gyro, or falafels in garlic yogurt, cilantro jalapeno, fire chili, and dill yogurt sauce is practically a rite of passage. The hardest part is deciding whether to order a wrap, bowl, or salad.
11980 Bernardo Plaza Drive
Casa Lahori
Get a taste of South Asian flavors at Casa Lahori, a Pakistani restaurant noted for its grilled meat kabobs. Other best-selling dishes include beef nihari, chicken biryani, and shahi paneer— best enjoyed with naan bread.
11975 Bernardo Plaza Drive
Kangnam Korean BBQ
Grill your own meat on the tabletop at Kangnam Korean BBQ, an interactive, all-you-can-eat experience that’s well-suited for large groups. Marinated beef bulgogi, grilled galbi short ribs, and spicy pork are served alongside traditional banchan dishes like kimchi, japchae glass noodles, and flavorful stews. Weekday lunch specials provide a nice discount on these filling meals.
11828 Rancho Bernardo Road, Suite 117–119
Courtesy of Curry & More Indian Bistro
Curry & More Indian Bistro
Dig in to your favorite curries and kebabs at Curry & More Indian Bistro. Most entrees are served with a choice of two side dishes, including basmati rice, potatoes with cumin, daal, naan, or mixed greens. Help offset the spice with one of their sweet mango or strawberry lassi drinks.
Kai Oliver-Kurtin is a San Diego-based writer who covers travel, dining, events, and culture. Her writing has been published in USA Today, Condé Nast Traveler, Fodor's Travel, Marie Claire, and HuffPost, among others.
Some keep lists of favorite books, of quotes, of enemies whose time shall come. At SDM we keep vast, nuanced, hotly debated lists of the best food and drink in the city. Menus are our smut novels. From Michelin stars to mom and pops, our list constantly evolves over hundreds of new bites tried every year. Here’s the 2026 list from food critic Troy Johnson and 129,000-plus votes from our readers, who really, really know their food.
Scroll down for the full list of Best Restaurant winners
Troy Johnson is the magazine’s award-winning food writer and humorist, and a long-standing expert on Food Network. His work has been featured on NatGeo, Travel Channel, NPR, and in Food Matters, a textbook of the best American food writing.
Bringing a Buzz Back to the Office by JLL San Diego
How companies are re-energizing their employees and workplace culture
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The office now feels different to pre-pandemic days.
With more people splitting their work hours between home, the office and other locations, many workplaces are seeing peaks and troughs in employee numbers throughout the week, with different teams crossing paths less frequently than before.
It’s now up to companies to find new ways to re-energize the office to make the commute feel worthwhile and support employees who may be battling feelings of isolation and disconnection.
JLL’s Regenerative Workplace research found that 36 percent of employees feel they lack energy while working, while a quarter feel too exhausted by work and family life to take care of their health and wellbeing. A third even say their company is no longer a good place to work.
Yet good energy levels are intrinsic to employee engagement and motivation, driving creativity and innovation.
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Energy to engage
Although remote work has helped many employees achieve a better work-life balance, video meeting fatigue and longer workdays have also taken their toll.
A McKinsey survey of attitudes to post-pandemic work found that many employees now fear their work-life balance will suffer. Mental health is now a top priority and employee expectations that companies will support their well-being are growing.
Companies like JLL are taking note; taking measures to promote employee well-being, including flexible work schedules, and providing more support for mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression, which often are hidden.
Elsewhere, other HR-driven initiatives are helping people to build new connections with colleagues. A renewed focus on mentorship programs and teambuilding activities can develop valuable workplace relationships that many employees felt were negatively impacted by remote work, while specialized onboarding for people who were hired during the pandemic is helping them feel part of the team.
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Designed to energize
The workplace itself has an important role in encouraging community and boosting energy levels. Workplace design that emphasizes collaborative space over individual workstations can nurture communal energy when fewer employees are in.
Meeting spaces that are equipped with high-quality screens and audio technology make it easier and more enjoyable to collaborate with remote colleagues. Open-air work areas such as terraces and rooftops can significantly improve employees’ sense of wellbeing while adding more greenery – such as green walls and desk plants – can boost energy and reduce stress.
Space dedicated to health and wellbeing also benefits energy levels, whether that’s quiet rooms, fitness zones or break areas. In the JLL San Diego office, having a transition space where employees can switch off between different tasks and avoid back-to-back meetings helps people to recharge. It also provides an opportunity for social experiences, which helps develop personal connections.
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It’s this sense of shared purpose and personal connection that today’s companies need to fuel a new type of office buzz in the hybrid work era.
As work takes place in an increasingly digital environment, the physical office is more relevant than ever as the space which brings people together, whether they’re employees or clients. While people may spend less time there, the experience is more sophisticated, carefully designed to support a vibrant community and nurture sustainable, long-term performance.
About JLL
JLL knows San Diego commercial real estate: past, present, and future. With over 1,300 lease transactions totaling 18.1 million square feet and $5 billion in sales under our belt since 2019 – our trusted advisors have the local market knowledge and insight you need to address changing business demands, challenges, and risks. Learn more here.
