That this house in Vista, California, in North San Diego County, sold for $100,000 in December 2008 doesn’t seem all that noteworthy. It’s not exactly an architectural gem and it’s just 1600 square feet. The 1989 price of $165,000 makes sense as a reasonable price for this property as well.

More shocking is that it sold for $520,000 in August 2005. Did it occur to anybody in 2005 that a little home like this can’t possibly be “worth” more than half a million dollars?

I’m no expert on San Diego County, but I know enough about the area to say that Vista is not oceanfront; the geographic premium couldn’t have been THAT high for this house.

When we write the histories of this economic meltdown, we will point to simple pieces of data like this one.