Oceanside CA is definitely not like a lot of beach towns in California in that you won't necessarily find half a million dollar sports cars dotting the landscape or everyone wearing the latest designer shoes. Oceanside was really meant for surfers and families who simply love the water. If you've looked at the market at all though, you'll have noticed that California has become pricey practically everywhere even remotely close to the major cities of San Diego and Los Angeles. Areas that may have once been considered out of the way are no longer viewed as such because of consistent development. Movoto will give you some perspective of the changes in Oceanside and what you can expect from the community.
In terms of a market increase, Oceanside skyrocketed 13% last year alone. The median price range for homes near the coast is $669,000 with a median home rate of $439,000. The people here are mainly White (71%) with a smattering of different cultural households throughout. The main industries here are arts and entertainment, education, and retail. A little over a third of the population is married, and about one in five households has children. The highest age bracket is 40 to 64 at 28%, but 25 to 39 year old's are just under that at 26%. Most of the extremely expensive beach towns skew toward an older demographic with no local children in sight, so automatically this place will have a different atmosphere than a lot of towns. About 58% of the population holds a Bachelor's degree or higher, and the highest rate of crime is for theft. Unfortunately there is some amount of violent crime as well, however the changing face of the city will likely see those rates decline.
Oceanside is best known for the the beautiful views and the funky vibe of the community. This place has its own personality for sure, and in the past has tended to attract the bleach-blond surfers who just want to catch a few waves, eat a few slices of pizza, and then right back into the water. Because of this, you have a lot of influence of people who have no use for the hustle and bustle of the major cities. Tourists love to come here to pop into a sun-streamed shop to grab a boogie board and an over-priced tube of sunscreen. It's definitely meant for people who don't need a lot of frills and just want to enjoy the water, the sand, and the sun for what it is. Nightlife may be a little modest, but you can definitely find bars around with locals looking to relax after getting roughed up by the water. Also, you'll find seafood here as good as any fancy restaurant up and down the coast, but without the expensive price tag to go along with it.
The culture is shaped by Oceanside's central location and the changing demographics and market. There's a lot of value in being so close to everything, and there are more and more people living in this cheaper area and commuting to either San Diego or Orange County every year. Distance in Southern California becomes extremely relative because there is so much going on all around you, but it's also so spread out. The cities were never connected by subway lines because California was meant to have excellent highways systems to accommodate the flow of traffic. However, it was never anticipated that so many people would want to live here. As a result of this influx of people, you'll find that the roads are generally fairly frustrating places to be. The towns between Orange County and San Diego in the past were seen as somewhat quiet places to be that really only appealed to a certain type of outdoor water lover, but because of its central location will likely continue expansions just due to the sheer amount of people who flock here every year. It may also start hosting the bigger events and building new and different kinds of places instead of just being near them. This is definitely a debate considering its recent price increase.
It was already good, but the city of Oceanside has a tremendous opportunity here because the future is literally wide open. You can consider this area to be buyer's market due to the fact that the prices here are still much lower than other places along the coast. This could be the turning point where the future sees more construction, higher priced stores and restaurants and a different type of demographic moving in. However, there are a lot of people here who don't want to see the landscape change too drastically, regardless of how much money it might bring in. While cities like Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, and even San Diego are unbelievably gorgeous places to live and worth every penny, it certainly prices a lot of different kinds of people out of the market. Oceanside will likely see significant gains in terms of property values in the coming years, but it hopefully it won't change its vibe and laid-back attitude completely.
