March 19th, 2010, 8:33 am by Jon Lansner
February’s SoCal Consumer Price Index tells us that renters’ expenses fell again — this time at an 0.8% annual rate. That ties January and is a touch higher than the 0.9% rate of decline for December — the steepest fall since 1995.
Other tidbits within the February report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics about the local cost of keeping a roof over one’s head …
- Overall SoCal housing expenses were falling at an 0.7% annual rate — 8th straight month of decline!
- Homeowner costs — minus any acquisition costs, so the cost to rent your home — fell at a 1.3% annual rate. Largest rate of decline since government began tracking this monthly in 1984.
- Household energy was rising at a 10.2% annual clip. That’s largest in 3 years but follows a year of 8.8% cost drops.
- Household furnishings and operations fell at a 2.2% annual rate — 7th consecutive month of drops. Last year, these costs rose a thin 0.1% after dropping the previous two years.
Trends:
Posted in: Apartments/Rents • Bureau of Labor Statistics • rentals • SoCal | 7 Comments »
March 18th, 2010, 10:08 pm by Jon Lansner
Celebrity news site TMZ and KABC-TV report that Nadya Suleman — the woman with 14 kids made famous by her octuplets — faces foreclosure on her $565,000 La Habra home she acquired a year ago.
Apparently, TMZ learned that the woman dubbed “Octomom” missed a $450,000 balloon payment on the home due this month. TMZ was unable to reach Suleman for comment but KABC reports (video here) that Nadya’s attorney says it’s a dispute between the previous owner and Nadya’s father, the actual owner. Octomom’s family bought the house in March 2009 for $565,000 — apparently financed by the seller, Amer Haddadin. Haddadin told KABC he intends to begin foreclosure proceedings. (TMZ has a copy of a $23,225 mortgage default notice on the house Nadya’s mother owns in LA County.)
Of course, nothing is ever simple with Nadya. When she acquired the home a year ago …
- The seller’s agent said Nadya’s dad made a $110,000 downpayment on the La Habra house for his daughter.
- Nadya in a video said she — not her parents — was paying for her new house.
- She also said she had a lease option.
- She told Dr. Phil she got money from selling pictures of the octuplets to put toward the house.
- The previous owner’s agent said the seller was financing the deal.
She went on to describe her plans for the home on in an online video …
She will be ripping out the carpeting and flooring today, then having the air vents cleaned out, and having the place painted. She also says she needs to buy a king size bed for her (“actually, honestly, I won’t even be sleeping”) and new, bigger refrigerator. In the backyard, where she plans to rip out the grass, she will put a swingset she wants to buy and will set up a trampoline from her parents house in Whittier (the one headed for foreclosure). She also wants to turn the garage into an entertainment/playroom from the older kids. When asked by an unidentified man in the video how she is paying for all this, since she is unemployed and last we heard on food stamps, she says that she has “selectively picked some opportunities to earn some resources for the kids.”
At that time, local Realtors politely spun the deal as good news for the community. Agent Linda Domis told The Register: “I think it’s very positive, because a lot of people don’t know where La Habra is. Many times they don’t think it’s in Orange County, which I think is always hysterical … It just creates awareness.”
And, oh yeah … The octuplets’ new home was quickly toilet papered!
Plus, one poll asking “Who’d be the worst neighbor?” put ‘Octomom’ on top.
‘Housewives’ have had real estate issues, too …
Posted in: Celebrity homes • distressed • La Habra • Octomom | 45 Comments »
March 18th, 2010, 5:18 pm by Jeff Collins
Real estate news and views from around the globe that make you go, “Really?”
- HUFF, PUFF: A niche mortgage mess is brewing in homes made of earth, tires, concrete and trash. (WSJ) MORE HERE!
- NO MELTDOWN: Canada, which has fewer housing subsidies, avoided the mortgage meltdown that sank the U.S. housing market. (WSJ) MORE HERE!
- COOLING IT: China plans to order many of its largest state-owned enterprises out of the real estate business to help cool its urban housing bubble. (Reuters) MORE HERE!
- APPS FOR ANDROIDS: Zillow and ZipRealty will launch free real estate applications for Android phones. (Inman and androinica) MORE HERE! and HERE!
- SIDEWAYS: Actor Paul Giamatti paid $1.3 million for a Brooklyn Heights condo. (CURBED NY) MORE HERE!
Posted in: Celebrity homes • Odds & ends • Really | 1 Comment »
March 18th, 2010, 1:40 pm by Jeff Collins
Westgate Garden Walk at Anaheim, at left, was going to be 400 units./Courtesy of The Carlton Group
A Florida-based timeshare developer is seeking a buyer for its 400-unit timeshare-hotel project planned for construction atop the Anaheim GardenWalk parking garage.
Westgate Resorts of Orlando originally had hoped to sell the development rights for $37 million, but now will settle for whatever it can get in an online auction-type sale, said company Chief Operating Officer Mark Waltrip.
Westgate has architectural drawings, utilities and parking, as well as the air rights to build above the parking garage at the mall, located on Katella Avenue just east of the Disney resort. The developer had planned to begin construction by last year, but was delayed by the sour economy and a lack of financing, Waltrip said.
Now, Westgate is selling the development rights off, along with more than 70 other properties across the country.
“We’re just selling off non-core assets that don’t pertain to our timeshare business,” Waltrip said. “We’re not in the business of holding real estate.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Brokers, builders, etc. • Commercial property • industry | 10 Comments »
March 18th, 2010, 8:18 am by Jon Lansner
First American CoreLogic’s computers each month look into an Orange County home-price crystal ball and create a forecast for the next 12 months of pricing activity.For January, FACL saw Orange County home prices — including distressed sales — rising at 0.84% in the next year. That’s a bit of a softening from December where this indicator predicted that Orange County home prices would be rising at a 2.6% annual pace.
Previously:
- Outlook in November was for a 1.18% decrease in the coming 12 months.
- October? 6.8% gain.
- September? 10.94% gain.
- August? 9.53% gain
According to First American, looking backwards, Orange County home prices for January …
- Including distressed sales, increased by 1.69% percent va. January 2009.
- December’s year-over-year change was -0.55%.
- Excluding distressed transactions, year-over-year change for January is +0.99% vs. December’s -2.24%.
Nationally, FACL sees …
House prices are expected to increase over the next year by 4.5 percent. Excluding distressed sales, over the next year house prices are expected to increase by 5.6 percent. Two major unknowns that are not explicitly taken into account by the forecast are how the “shadow inventory” of homes may come on to the market later in the year, and the expiration (or possible extension) of the federal homebuyer tax credit in April which has stimulated sales activity and the clearing of inventory.
Celebrity home news:
Posted in: Outlooks • Selling patterns • First American CoreLogic • numbers • trends | 9 Comments »
March 17th, 2010, 11:29 pm by Jon Lansner
A new data set from the Real Estate Research Council of Southern California — powered by First American CoreLogic — shows that the market value of all SoCal housing fell $119 billion in 2009 to $1.934 trillion. That’s a 6.6% drop, for those who like percentages. Note:
| County |
Value (billions) |
$ change |
% change |
| LA |
$830.7 |
-$58.4 |
-7% |
| OC |
$387.2 |
-$3.8 |
-1% |
| Riverside |
$141.7 |
-$13.8 |
-9% |
| San Berdoo |
$107.9 |
-$25.3 |
-19% |
| San Diego |
$317.1 |
-$12.6 |
-4% |
| Ventura |
$96.2 |
-$6.6 |
-6% |
| Santa Barbara |
$53.0 |
$1.4 |
3% |
| SoCal |
$1,933.8 |
-$119.1 |
-6% |
- LA County has the largest dollar drop ($58 billion) among the 7 counties followed.
- San Bernardivo homes were the biggest loser (-19%) on a percentage basis.
- Orange County home vaues declined $3.8 billion — a 1% decline — to $387 billion. Note: That O.C. drop would have been worse had it not been for a nearly $12 billion gain in local values in the fourth quarter.
RERCSC writes …
The near-term outlook for Southern California’s home ownership markets remains subdued. On the positive side existing home sales continue to rise and home prices are showing signs of recent firming. On the other hand both mortgage defaults and foreclosures jumped again remain at record levels and are expected to increase further. Interest and inflation rates remain low. But job losses continue large as unemployment grows. Apartment rents continue downward. Softness in apartment rental markets and weakness in home ownership markets will likely continue through 2010. And weakness in non- residential markets will likely deepen.
Have you voted?
Listen to a podcast!
Posted in: Selling patterns | 71 Comments »
March 17th, 2010, 6:00 pm by Jeff Collins
Real estate news and views from around the globe that make you go, “Really?”
- PRICE REDUCED: Britney Spears has dropped the asking price for her six bedroom mansion to $5.5 million, down from the original $7.9 million. (TMZ) MORE HERE!
- $9.5M LOSS: Relocating for business reasons, Christopher Nassetta, president and chief executive of Hilton Worldwide, has sold his Los Angeles home for $18 million. He paid $27.5 million for it in 2007. (WSJ) MORE HERE!
- WALKING AWAY: Underwater on their mortgages and angry at banks, more borrowers are choosing to hand over the keys, even if they can afford the payments. (L.A. Times) MORE HERE!
- HARDEST HIT: Prices for homes in Detroit, Atlanta, Cleveland and Las Vegas now sit at levels not seen in at least ten years. (Seeking Alpha) MORE HERE!
Posted in: Celebrity homes • Odds & ends • Really | Post a Comment »
