Socal Multiunit Real Estate

THE LOS ANGELES CLEAN TECH CORRIDOR WILL MAKE L.A. THE LEADER IN GREEN TECHNOLOGY

By Jodi Summers

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA/LA) hope to transform L.A. into ‘the global capital of clean technology.” The goal is to transform the manufacturing corridor east of downtown into the center of green innovation. The mayor and his team are marketing this industrial parcel, dubbed the CleanTech Manufacturing Center, as a green business incubator, the way Silicon Valley hatched technology.

“We will make clean tech as synonymous with LA as motion pictures,” Mayor Villaraigosa boldly declared. “We will make LA the capital of green technology … and transform the city into a laboratory for green development.”

The CleanTech Corridor city planners envision spans 2,236 acres — about 10% railroad-owned — east of Alameda Street, and is accessible by the Metro Gold Line. It begins at a swath of land straddling the L.A. River, near Los Angeles State Historic Park (the former Cornfield), that Councilman Ed Reyes hopes to transform into a neighborhood where bicycles and pedestrians would rule and carbon emissions would be cut by 35%. Then it runs south through the site of a future Department of Water and Power research center into the Artists-in-Residence district, which stretches from Alameda to the river and from 1st Street to south of 7th Street. The vacant CleanTech Manufacturing site at Santa Fe Avenue and 15th Street, just south of the 10 Freeway, forms the corridor’s southern anchor.

“…The City is standing with the world-class academic institutions of Los Angeles and our dynamic business community to stake a claim as a global leader in the clean and green technologies that will drive the 21st century economy,” the mayor pronounced. “From R&D to manufacturing to design, this partnership taps into the creative assets and innovative spirit of our City to foster new industry and spur job growth.”

Of course, there are no local funds to make this conversion happen, so the city of Los Angeles will be calling for private investment and money from state and federal sources,

Last fall, CRA officials and the mayor’s business team began courting clean technology companies — talking up the purchasing power of the city’s public utilities, as well as the array of federal, state and city tax incentives available to business.

More than 100 companies, from solar and electric car manufacturers to a garment recycling business, expressed interest in the CleanTech site, which the city purchased from the state last April for $14 million.

“The Los Angeles Business Council believes that attracting green-tech companies will be a prime economic driver for the region,” said Los Angeles Business Council President Mary Leslie. “We were proud to launch the website CleanTechLA.org at our Sustainability Summit last year and look forward to continuing our partnership with the consortium to build a vibrant green economy in Los Angeles.”

For capitalist development, the Los Angeles Times reports that the most intensive push has been for an Italian rail manufacturer, AnsaldoBreda, which is angling for a $300-million rail car construction contract with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. If it secures the contract, AnsaldoBreda has promised to build a $70-million manufacturing plant. The contract is controversial because some MTA officials have been unhappy with the company’s performance in meeting rail car contract specifications in the past, but the company has several political insiders in town pushing this deal, said to be Los Angeles County Federation of Labor lobbyist Chris Lehane, and the green building company Shangri-LA Construction, founded by prominent Democratic contributor and Villaraigosa donor Steven Bing.

More altruistically, farther north in the corridor, a DWP research center focusing on renewable energy, climate change and water intended to attract companies that want to work with area universities.

Dubbed CleanTech Los Angeles, the city is seeking to create a research alliance (not unlike the Department of Energy’s Commercial Building Energy Alliances) involving local area educational institutions, with major roles being played by the California Institute of Technology, University of California Los Angeles and the University of Southern California, among others.

“I’ve often said that Los Angeles may have the best collection of intellectual talent of any county in the nation. I believe it’s important to invest our intellectual capital in programs that enhance the quality of life for all of our citizens” noted University of Southern California President Steven Sample. “USC is delighted to partner with our colleagues in higher education, and with our friends from the public sector and from private business, to help make Los Angeles the greenest city in America.”

“Broader recognition of Los Angeles as a global regional center of science and engineering research and clean technology development bodes well for its economic competitiveness in a rapidly changing world,” added Dr. Jean-Lou Chameau, President of the California Institute of Technology.

The cluster of laboratories would be housed in an old transformer warehouse overlooking the river on the DWP’s Main Street site, and the DWP recently secured a private donation that will allow the department to perform a $4.5-million “green retrofit” of the building.

Among the projects planned: development of aerospace technology with Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that would help the DWP better measure snowpack in the Eastern Sierra and dust in the Owens Valley.

 In the basement of the DWP building, UCLA would build a wind tunnel testing facility. Meanwhile, USC is exploring the site as a home for a research institute that would study how to make data centers more energy efficient.

“The city really provides a platform to have a lot of technologies tested,” said John X. Chen, the DWP’s executive director of customer service and water conservation. He said the city will be spending billions of dollars trying to reach the mayor’s renewable energy goals. For those reasons, he argued that when competing for grants, “We will be very, very competitive against anybody out there.”

And, you can’t have business without housing nearby. At the northern end of the corridor, the Cornfield/Arroyo Seco specific plan area spans more than 600 acres — from Los Angeles State Historic Park, across the river into Lincoln Heights. It will be one of those picture pretty pedestrian- and cyclist-centered neighborhood

The city would also place special restrictions on developers within a mile of the river, requiring open space and measures to reduce carbon emissions in the neighborhood.

FYI…The L.A. Times notes that the CleanTech corridor is a critical component of the mayor’s “green jobs” agenda as he eyes a probable run for governor in 2010. And it could be a test of his pledge to transform Los Angeles into “the greenest and cleanest big city in the nation,” drawing more than a third of its electrical power from renewable sources by 2020.

**

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-clean-tech28-2009apr28,0,669366,print.story

http://www.ioe.ucla.edu/news/article.asp?parentid=3347

http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/la-to-become-the-capital-of-green-88893.aspx

http://cleantechlosangeles.org/

http://www.lachamber.com/clientuploads/EWE_committee/RFI_FINAL_9_16_2008.pdf

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/hoDaoA3nwB-/Mayor+Antonio+Villaraigosa+Votes+Election/jvGcHFcTcLF/Antonio+Villaraigosa

GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHICS ARE SHAPING REAL ESTATE TRENDS

GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHICS ARE SHAPING REAL ESTATE TRENDS

Edited by Jodi Summers

Global Demographics: Shaping Real Estate’s Future offers recent research from the Urban Land Institute about the effect of global demographic change on real estate.

“Over the next 20 years, demographic megatrends — and their variations by continent — present the real estate industry with tremendous opportunity to not only grow, but to better serve the people real estate is designed for,” said David Jacobstein, senior advisor to co-sponsor Deloitte LLP ’s Real Estate practice. “Mature economies — especially growing ones — offer attractive investment opportunities, but emerging markets require vast quantities of infrastructure, as well as residential, retail, office, and hotel properties to support their burgeoning populations.”

Findings from the report include:

Aging

The aging of the world’s population is arguably the single most dramatic demographic trend today, with three key trends emerging:

v In 2006, almost 500 million people worldwide were 65 and older.

v By 2030, individuals 65 and older are projected to increase to 1 billion — equaling one out of every eight people on earth.

v The most rapid increases in the 65-and-older population are occurring in developing countries, which will see a jump of 140 percent by 2030.

Real estate implications

v Retirement housing is the primary real estate beneficiary of global aging, with the U.S. senior housing industry set to benefit from the opportunity to produce new products.

v Rapid consolidation of senior housing operators will result in more professional and cost-effective management.

v Investor interest will continue to grow because economic cycles have little effect on dementia and nursing care facilities.

v There is increased demand for affordable senior housing and senior housing options in ethnic communities.

Urbanization

As of 2007, 3.3 billion people — half of the world’s population — live in urban areas. With that number expected to increase to 60 percent by 2030, five key trends are emerging:

v One billion people live in slums, with 90 percent of this population occurring in developing countries.

v At least 133 million city dwellers in the developing world lack durable housing.

v Twenty percent of urban dwellers in emerging nations are overcrowded, with more than three people per bedroom.

v Only two-thirds of the world’s urban population has access to tap water, with only 46 percent having access in their homes.

v More than 25 percent of the world’s urban population lacks adequate sanitation.

Real estate implications of these urbanization trends include:

v Investing in infrastructure — whether new or established — is essential to the viability of long-term commercial real estate projects. Privatization of infrastructure through public/private partnerships with investment funds are becoming increasingly important, with notable examples occurring in the United States, Spain and France.

v Better land use controls should be implemented to prevent high-density, informal communities from developing and reduce outward urban sprawl because both trends present difficulties to residents in terms of infrastructure, safety and lifestyle.

v There is increased demand for housing and retail as a result of a growing workforce.

v In stagnant or shrinking populations, new construction must be viewed as replacement properties — even if that entails older building demolition to maintain vacancy rates — as has occurred in continental Europe.

v Emerging markets can leap from traditional, organic models to contemporary multi-use projects and residential communities if ground level infrastructure is established.

v The lack of mortgage availability in the emerging market is the greatest limitation on new development.

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS187513+12-Jun-2008+BW2008061

http://totallycebu.com/aging-lecture

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/165513789/

HUD AND DOT WORKING TOGETHER FOR MORE LIVABLE CITIES

By Jodi Summers

Government statistics show that the average working American family spends nearly 60 percent of its budget on housing and transportation costs - making these two areas the largest expenses for the average household. Now the government wants to help.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) are working together in hopes of helping American families gain better access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs by creating affordable, sustainable communities.

Like putting in our light rail system, this is a long process. Over the next four years, every major metropolitan area in the country will do an analysis of integrated housing, transportation, and land use planning and investment.

Recently, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and DOT Secretary Ray LaHood presented the official vision for sustainable communities at a U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing hearing titled, “Livable Communities, Transit Oriented Development, and incorporating Green Building Practices into Federal Housing and Transportation.”

“One of my highest priorities is to help promote more livable communities through sustainable surface transportation programs,” offered Secretary LaHood. “This partnership will help expand every American family’s choices for affordable housing and transportation,” said Secretary Donovan. “HUD’s central mission - ensuring that every American has access to decent, affordable housing - can be achieved only in context of the housing, transportation, and energy costs and choices that American families experience each day.”

DOT and HUD have created a high-level interagency task force to better coordinate federal transportation and housing investments and identify strategies to give American families:

• More choices for affordable housing near employment opportunities;

• More transportation options, to lower transportation costs, shorten travel times, and improve the environment; and

• Safe, livable, healthy communities.

The HUD/DOT task force has the goal of enhancing integrated regional housing, transportation, and land use planning and investment. Planning grants will be made available to metropolitan areas, and create mechanisms to ensure those plans are carried through to localities. DOT will encourage Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to conduct this integrated planning as a part of their next long-range transportation plan update and will provide technical assistance on scenario planning, a tool for assessing future growth alternatives that better coordinate land use, and transportation planning.

http://www.hud.gov/offices/cir/test090318.cfm

http://www.inman.com/news/2009/03/19/partnership-targets-affordability-transportation

THE SENIOR HOUSING MARKET IS CHANGING

THE SENIOR HOUSING MARKET IS CHANGING

By Jodi Summers

The first of the Baby Boomers will soon be entering the senior housing market, and that is impacting the single and multifamily housing market.

The National Association of Home Builders and MetLife Mature Market Institute recently examined the 55-plus population and its preferences in homes and communities. Dubbed “Housing for the 55+ Market: Trends and Insights on Boomers and Beyond,” the report is based on data from the most recent American Housing Survey from the US Census Bureau and focused on trends that emerged between 2001 and 2007.

Some interesting conclusions, the age 55-plus population in the country has risen from 52.2 million–about 21% of the population–in 1990 to 59.3 million–again about 21%–in 2000 to 70.6 million, comprising 23% of the overall population, in 2007. By 2010, this group will grow to 76.6 million, or a quarter of the population, and to 85.3 million–26%–in 2014.

Most older households don’t currently live in age-restricted or–qualified housing, but that number is rising. In 2001, 2% of them lived in active adult age-restricted communities; in 2007, 3% did. What’s more, residents in this type of community had the highest satisfaction rates, although most 55-plus respondents related they were happy with their current homes.

Regarding property, design and looks were most important factors to older buyers of single-family homes. In age-restricted 55-plus rental or multifamily properties, proximity to family and friends topped residents’ priority lists.

Distance from work location was the driver behind choosing a community for 17% of older buyers of single-family detached homes in 2007, up from 11% in 2001 to 17% in 2007.

The buyers of units in active-adult communities are getting younger–no older than 60–and in multifamily and rental units, many of the heads of households are females. The share of college-educated buyers in age-restricted homes has also taken a leap, from 50% in 2001 to 72% in 2007.

“NAHB has tracked the 55-plus population and its share of the housing market for decades,” concludes David Crowe, NAHB’s chief economist. “But this new data gives us our first look at specific consumer behaviors and preferences–what they look for in a home, the reasons why they move, and the characteristics of the communities they choose–over an extended period of time. By examining emerging trends, we have a clearer picture of what the mature market wants in homes and communities, which gives builders the tools to build housing that will meet those needs.”

http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/housing-for-the-55-plus-market.pdf

http://www.globest.com/news/1406_1406/insider/178616-1.html

http://www.docuticker.com/?p=25847

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-baby-boomers-move-family-often-is-reason

US POPULATION PROFILES

edited by Jodi Summers

Fascinating statistics gleaned a Federal Government related to hiring practices for business…

The population of the U.S. increased by 23 million between 2000 and 2008. The increase in Hispanics was more than that of the combined Caucasians, Blacks, and Asians.

The population of the U.S. is projected to rise from 96 million in 2005 to 438 million in 2050. 82% of the 142 million increase will come from immigrants arriving here between 2005 and 2050 and their descendants.

Since 2005, 80% of our legal immigrants (and probably 98% of the combined legals and illegals) come from Black and Latino countries. By 2050, Asians, Hispanics and Backs will outnumber Caucasians roughly 56% to 44%.

There are 311 different languages spoken in the U.S. with only Spanish currently receiving preferential recognition on federal forms, publications, announcements, etc. But it is projected that by the year 2020 at least 3 other languages including Chinese, Arabic and Hindu will attain similar status.

More than 20% of the current national population considers their primary language to be other than English.

75% of all females in the U.S. over the age of 16 work a minimum of 20 hours in the labor market. In 1935, it was 3.6% and in 1950, it was 9.6%.

Religions growing in the U.S.

Islam 51%

Christianity 33%

Hindu 9.1%

Buddhism 3.8%

Judaism 0.7%

Other 2.4%

19% of the current population over the age of 18 receives half or full disability benefits from the U.S. Government. Almost 30% of those are due to overweight.

**

http://balboa-ct.com/images/CapitolBldg.jpg

http://patriotsnotebook.com/article_archive/images/immigration.jpg

http://watercooler.cc/ZenCart/images/WC/Speech/Obesity02.jpg

http://gothamist.com/attachments/nyc_arts_john/011708wiggum.jpg

REAL ESTATE PRICES ARE STILL UP THIS MILLENIIUM IN LOS ANGELES

REAL ESTATE PRICES ARE STILL UP THIS MILLENIIUM IN LOS ANGELES

by Jodi Summers

A recent report on Forbes.com citing the 10 Best and 10 Worst U.S. Housing Markets noted that in Los Angeles, if you bought in 2000, paid your mortgage on time and are still in your home, you’ve seen a 71.5% price appreciation.

Up north, San Francisco’s prices are up 30.12% from 2000. It still has the potential for a further fall, given the 31% drop for 2008.

Forbes analyzed monthly declines and year-over-year declines in home prices to determine where prices were falling fastest and where those drops were picking up momentum. They noted, “It’s not a good thing for San Diego that prices from November 2008 to December 2008 fell 2.13%, but as prices declined by 2.29% from October to November, and 2.44% from September to October, the speed with which prices are falling is slowing.”

The information is based on an S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, which measured metro home prices in 20 cities through December 2008.

Info courtesy of:

http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/24/housing-cities-ten-lifestyle-real-Estate_home_prices.html?partner=alerts

BE HAPPY! LOS ANGELES IS NOT ON THE LIST OF PLACES WHERE HOMEOWNERS HAVE THE MOST DEBT

By Jodi Summers

Sure, we’re all complaining about our decline in wealth, and the drop in real estate values. The bright side is if you’ve owned for any length of time, you’re still satisfied. In many parts of the Los Angeles area, real estate saw a 400% rise in a 10-year period – to have prices drop by a third is still 266% better than 12 years ago.

Other cities in California have a lot more to complain about, according to Forbes list of Where U.S. Homeowners are Most in Debt. Seven metro areas of the Forbes Top 10 made the list, including Modesto, Riverside, Yuba City, Merced, San Diego, Stockton and Vallejo.

In these cities, underwater mortgages–one on which more is owed than the home is worth–comprise an average 44% of outstanding mortgages, compared to the 29% nationwide average.

Modesto ranks as the worst city for homeowner debt. Household wealth has been reset to 2001 levels while housing prices have declined 57% since the peak in 2005, and 30% in the last year alone. This has dunked 81% of the last five years’ mortgages underwater.

Want to know more?

Check out the whole story @ http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/11/homes-equity-debt-lifestyle-real-estate-mortgage-underwater_slide_2.html?thisspeed=25000

**

www.performermag.com/wcp.tourstop.0711.php

http://livedesignonline.com/theatre/State_Modesto.jpg

WE WIN! LOS ANGELES IS THE MOST OVERPRICED CITY IN THE UNITED STATES

By Jodi Summers

Los Angeles likes being on top…though we’d rather be famous than infamous. But today, we’re infamous, as Forbes sites L.A. as the most overpriced housing market in the U.S. Forbes then ranked these metros using four measures: average salary for workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher, with data from PayScale.com; annual unemployment statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics; cost of living, according to Moody’s Economy.com; and the Housing Opportunity Index from the National Association of Homebuilders and Wells Fargo, which measures the number of homes sold in a given area that would be affordable to a family earning the local median income, based on standard mortgage underwriting criteria.

No. 3: Miami, Fla.

(Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla.)

Cost of Living: 26 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 46 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 39 of 50

Average Salary: 31 of 50

~~

No. 4: New York

(New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y./N.J.)

Cost of Living: 47 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 50 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 37 of 50

Average Salary: 6 of 50

~~

No. 5: Providence, R.I.

(Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, R.I.)

Cost of Living: 26 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 28 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 48 of 50

Average Salary: 37 of 50

~~

No. 6: Riverside, Calif.

(Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.)

Cost of Living: 23 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 34 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 49 of 50

Average Salary: 26 of 50

~~

No. 7: Long Island, N.Y.

(Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y.)

Cost of Living: 40 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 48 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 17 of 50

Average Salary: 24 of 50

~~

No. 8: Cleveland, Ohio

(Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio)

Cost of Living: 32 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 5 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 44 of 50

Average Salary: 40 of 50

~~

No. 9 (tie): San Diego, Calif.

(San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif.)

Cost of Living: 35 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 41 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 27 of 50

Average Salary: 16 of 50

~~

No. 9 (tie): Newark, N.J.

(Newark-Union, N.J./Pa.)

Cost of Living: 40 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 44 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 23 of 50

Average Salary: 12 of 50

~~

No. 11: Philadelphia, Pa.

(Philadelphia, Pa.)

Cost of Living: 35 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 38 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 23 of 50

Average Salary: 21 of 50

~~

No. 12: Portland, Ore.

(Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.)

Cost of Living: 19 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 39 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 28 of 50

Average Salary: 30 of 50

~~

No. 13 (tie): Memphis, Tenn.

(Memphis, Tenn./Miss./Ark.)

Cost of Living: 8 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 15 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 42 of 50

Average Salary: 48 of 50

~~

No. 13 (tie): Tampa, Fla.

(Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.)

Cost of Living: 16 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 22 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 38 of 50

Average Salary: 37 of 50

~~

No. 15: Orlando, Fla.

(Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla.)

Cost of Living: 5 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 50 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 32 of 50

Average Salary: 45 of 50

~~

No. 16: St. Louis, Mo.

(St. Louis, Mo./Ill.)

Cost of Living: 28 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 11 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 35 of 50

Average Salary: 36 of 50

~~

No. 17: Jacksonville, Fla.

(Jacksonville, Fla.)

Cost of Living: 11 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 17 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 35 of 50

Average Salary: 44 of 50

~~

No. 18: San Francisco, Calif.

(San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood, Calif.)

Cost of Living: 46 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 49 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 8 of 50

Average Salary: 2 of 50

~~

No. 19 (tie): Boston, Mass.

(Boston-Quincy, Mass.)

Cost of Living: 45 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 37 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 13 of 50

Average Salary: 9 of 50

~~

No. 19 (tie): Warren, Mich.

(Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich.)

Cost of Living: 28 of 50

Housing Opportunity: 2 of 50

Unemployment Rate: 46 of 50

Average Salary: 28 of 50

~~

http://www.dqnews.com/Articles/2009/News/California/Southern-CA/RRSCA090415.aspx

http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/06/cities-expensive-top-lifestyle-real-estate-overpriced-cities_print.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-homes5-2009may05,0,2234983.story

http://www.socalmultiunitrealestateblog.com/?p=361

http://www.carofthecentury.com/versai34.jpg

http://www.visitingnewengland.com/PageMill_Resources/image2252.gif

www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/840-429

http://www.tampaspartans.com/images/logos/Univ%20of%20Tampa%20Shield%204.jpg

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Eclassicpostcards/Parent%20Directory/usa/florida/duval/skyline.jpg

PUBLIC COMMENT ON LEED FOR NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT DESIRED

 by Jodi Summers

In their own green way, the U.S. Green Building Council values your opinion. And now, they have opened a second public comment period for LEED for Neighborhood Development. Make your voice heard on neighborhood greening through Sunday, June 14, at 11:59 p.m. PDT.

See http://lists.usgbc.org/t/943571/18403397/91/0/ to submit your comments.

During the first public comment period, the US Green Building Council received more than 5,000 comments. Reponses are said to be posted at the above link.

The LEED http://lists.usgbc.org/t/943571/18403397/1552/0/ for Neighborhood Development rating system integrates the principles of smart growth, new urbanism and green building into the first national rating system for neighborhood design.

The program is the result of a collaboration among USGBC, the Congress for the New Urbanism, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The rating system has been in pilot since July 2007, with nearly 240 projects participating. Feedback gathered from those projects, as well as countless hours of USGBC volunteers’ time, have led to the current, more-sophisticated and market-responsive draft of LEED for Neighborhood Development.

BE HAPPY IF YOU OWN REAL ESTATE! LOS ANGELES WINS AS THE MOST OVERPRICED HOUSING MARKET IN THE U.S.

By Jodi Summers

Los Angeles is good at topping lists…best weather, prettiest people, throws the best party… recently, Energy Star noted that we topped the list of energy efficient cities. Now, the news is more infamous than famous…like being named to the worst dressed list. Forbes says that Los Angeles is the most overpriced city in the United States, citing “…bloated housing prices, lofty living costs and unemployment rates among the highest in the nation…”

But the weather is perfect here…and traffic will improve… and there is good news for those looking to buy property. According to reliable sources like DataQuick information services, our home prices are leveling off, noting that the median price paid for a home was unchanged from January and February, “indicating that the market may be exploring price floor levels.”

It has been reported that a total of 19,486 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 27.9 percent from 15,231 for the prior month, and up 52.1 percent from 12,808 for March 2008, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego.

“…Go to Southern Cal, for example, we’re seeing a floor in pricing,” confirms Jeffrey Mezger, chief executive of builder KB Home. “We don’t see prices going down right now, which is a good thing, because then you can set a baseline.”

Truth be told, government- insured, FHA mortgages made up 37.8 percent of all purchase loans in March, up slightly from a revised 37.5% in February and up from 10.1% in March last year. And, regionwide, foreclosure resales accounted for 55.4 percent of March’s resales activity.

The median home price in the Los Angeles metro area has dipped from $525,000 to $319,000 over the last two years, Forbes noted that we still face one of the least affordable housing markets in the country. According to the NAHB/Wells Fargo’s Housing Opportunity Index, only New York, Long Island, N.Y., and San Francisco are more expensive.

Our housing issues are an over-the-top version of what’s happening, to lesser degrees, in the rest of the nation. Our unemployment rate is around 10.3%, right up there with Riverside. All of those new, mid-range housing projects are like fallow because of the lack of work.

“The unemployment [in Southern California] is definitely driven by the housing bust,” says Lee. “Prices are collapsing, but if you’re looking at buying a house, it’s still expensive.”

And that’s why we head up the over-priced housing market. Pathetic thing is, Chicago is second on the list; their weather sucks and the lifestyle is less dynamic than other list toppers like Miami (3) and New York (4)…

“For the average professional, New York’s premium is not as high as you’d expect, given the cost of living,” says Al Lee, director of Quantitative Analysis at PayScale.com. “The premium for a software developer in New York is actually less than it is in Seattle, and about the same as it is in Atlanta.”

Forbes came to this conclusion after analyzing earnings potential and living expenses in the 50 largest continental U.S. metropolitan statistical areas and metropolitan divisions–geographic entities defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use by federal agencies in collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics. Sounds official and impressive, doesn’t it.

Sources

http://www.dqnews.com/Articles/2009/News/California/Southern-CA/RRSCA090415.aspx

http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/06/cities-expensive-top-lifestyle-real-estate-overpriced-cities_print.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-homes5-2009may05,0,2234983.story

http://www.socalmultiunitrealestateblog.com/?p=361