Timely Real Estate News…………………………………………….14 February 2008
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The Wild, Wild West……2008 starts out with a ‘bang’
Hold onto your seats, we may be in a for a wild ride with Westside real estate this year, especially if you live in Beverly Hills and Brentwood. But it all “depends”. On what? When I reviewed the monthly (January 2008) Multiple Listing Services, Beverly Hills had a 58% increase in median sales price over January 2007….and Brentwood had more than 123% increase for the same year-to-year period. The Bel-Air and Beverly Hills Post Office communities had essentially no change over the past year for January 2008 vs. 2007.
On closer inspection, there were several large sales that skewed these results — a sale of $16 million on a Beverly Hills home which affected the increase in this area, and two sales of $10.750 million and $14 million respectively in Brentwood which caused the median sales price to leap more than 100%. Overall, with sales prices holding firm in all of the four areas, the Westside continues to demonstrate why our neighborhoods show sustainability on the price side, always a key indicator of home values. By the way, last weekend I spent some time with members of YPO (Young President’s Organization) who were here as part of a package for the Grammy’s. While they are here, I serve as the friendly tour guide for Westside real estate tours. There were 40 YPOers on my tour from all over the world. As I am sure you know, the Westside is not the only market that appears to be immune to the sub-prime debacle.. Other strong real est
ate markets include, Manhattan (NY), Miami, Florida, (specifically South Beach), Aspen, Salt Lake City and Park City to name a few.
So, what’s ahead for this year? What can we expect regarding our home values?
With the passage of the President’s economic stimulus package, and the increase in the amount of the conforming loans from $417,000 to $729,000, it appears that the upward flow of activity has already begun, and there probably will be more interest rate cuts in the next few months.
As always, the economy greatly influences real estate home pricing. Certainly, foreclosure news resonates in every area in the US. So, it is not surprising that the Westside has experienced some foreclosures. In Brentwood, seven homes and one condo were foreclosed in 2007, however that is exactly the same number as in 2006. In Beverly Hills there were four homes, and in Bel-Air, 11 homes. None in Beverly Hills Post Office. One of the biggest banks in the country, Bank of America, has a total of 139 properties in the entire state of California! How bad is that? According the Gary Watts, a noted real estate economist, California and Florida led the list in foreclosed properties, but as stated above, it is very much higher in specific regions of the state such as the San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
In Watt’s’ 2008 Economic and Housing Report, which was presented to Coldwell Banker agents on February 4, he noted the enormous (and growing) wealth of Californians. Of the 390 billionaires in the US, 88 live in our state. And the Federal Reserve reports that consumers have $5 trillion in liquid cash “sitting in banks and savings and loans”. and over the top 85% of the nation’s wealth resides with the richest 15% of Americans (the bottom 50% of Americans hold only 3.5% of the nation’s wealth). He also told us that 26% of the homes owned in the state of California are owned free and clear.
In balance, as we continue to see other local, regional and national areas experience steep price downturns, our Westside homes maintain strong values. It is just another sign of the enduring strength of our neighborhoods.
Other key indicators rise on the Westside
There were two seemingly unrelated events that underscore our Westside real estate strength: 1) My office, the Coldwell Banker Brentwood Court office, showed a 22% increase in home sales in January — $50 million (’08) vs. $41 million over the previous January, and 2) a very excited and proud Westside buyer of a home that has been on the market for three months, had just purchased it Super Bowl morning. He asked if he could be there for the open house and proceeded to tell everyone who came into the property that day (80 different parties) about the wonderful purchase he had made and a number of them said… “Gee I wish I had known about this house, I would have bought it!” Bottom line: We are seeing significant strength in the market and the buyers are out there!
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Green tip of the week.
For those of you who use fabric softener sheets.. here is some news
Most commercial dryer sheets are impregnated with all sorts of toxic chemicals including Benzyl Acetate, Benzyl Alcohol, Chloroform and Linalool; none of which are good for the environment – or you. Some of these compounds are known carcinogens.
Aside from the chemicals in the sheets winding up in your clothing and therefore next to your skin, when heated, the fumes are also toxic.
If you’re looking for a greener alternative to dryer sheets; here’s a couple of ideas that are very easy and cheap to do:
– Fill a small cloth drawstring bag with dried aromatic herbs or flowers and throw in the dryer with your clothes. Make sure the bag is tied securely of course 🙂
– A few drops of fragrant essential oil on a small cloth added to the dryer load will also do the trick. Essential oils are highly concentrated, so don’t go overboard, the heat will release more fragrance than what you can detect when initially applying a few drops to the cloth.