Timely Real Estate News……………………………………………..15 January 2010
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Happy New Year!
I hope you are all set to have a wonderful year.
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Real estate rebounds at year-end….sales volume over 2008!
I thought so! Yes, my prediction that December would push us over the top in sales volume came true. 2009 total sales for the four communities I report on (Beverly Hills, BHPO, Bel-Air, and Brentwood) was $1.495 billion vs. $1.447 billion for 2008! You are correct, we squeaked by, but when you consider that in mid-2009, we were as much as 40% behind our sales volume for the comparable period the previous 12 months. This is a remarkable achievement; however there is some explaining to do. As you know, there have been and will continue to be a number of foreclosed and short sale transactions that are taking place. The predictions are that this number will increase this year. And yes, there are homes that fall into this category in Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills Post Office Bel-Air and Brentwood. I don’t have the actual percentage of bank-owned homes that were sold, but it was much higher in 2009 than in 2008. These sales naturally impact the sales price averages.
Another factor contributing to this increase was that low interest rates continued to hold much of last year which greatly helped the sales volume as buyers flocked to get under the wire when rates begin their march upward. On another positive note, the downturn in real estate really began in late summer and early fall of 2008 when the economy began to tank, so there was strength in 2008’s performance for most of the year — which means that we recovered some of that strength with a strong year-end showing in 2009. That’s the good news.
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Home prices begin to solidify as median sales prices show end-of-year strength
December demonstrated that prices, for the most part, continued to rise which is reflected in the increase of the sales volume. For example, Beverly Hills median sales prices for December 2009 were 30% over November 2009; Beverly Hills Post Office showed a 20% increase, and Bel-Air has a whopping 211% increase in median sales price, but that was an anomaly because of the low median sales price in November in Bel-Air. (We have many anomalies every so often, and I just pass them on….)
Brentwood, however, showed a 40% dip in median sales prices between December and November of 2009, but was only down 2% for the entire year. The other three communities were as follows: Beverly Hills median sale price for year-to-date (thru 2009) was down 17%; Beverly Hills Post Office was down 12%; and Bel-Air was down a mere 1% compared for 2009 compared to all of 2008.
When you compare December’s 2009 performance with December 2008, Beverly Hills was up 20%; Beverly Hills Post Office was down 3%, and Bel-Air was up 128%; and Brentwood was up 20%.
With sales volume surpassing last year’s volume, you are probably scratching your head asking how does this compare to the quarterly update you got from me about two weeks ago. Please remember, my quarterly report is only for your community. For example, one of the major influences in all of the MLS’s statistics this past month is the number of homes that sold for over $3 million. In December 2008, Beverly Hills had five homes selling for over $3 million; BHPO had one; Bel-Air has two; and Brentwood had five. In December 2009, Beverly Hills had four selling for $3 million; BHPO had none, Bel-Air jumped to five; but Brentwood had 16.
One last statistic to throw into your hopper: The average for all four communities when comparing the original listing price to the selling listing price is 74%, which means that on average, the transaction price was more than 25% off the original price when the home was first listed. This low average was caused, to some degree, by Bel-Air’s rather low average of 62% of the original listing price. That should improve in 2010.
What this tells us is that when you overlay the performance in these areas over various period comparisons, each area is beginning to come back to previous years. In other words, the increased sales volumes for the four communities as well as the strong year-end performance in the neighborhoods bode well for 2010.
Crystal balls I have not….but overall, if you are thinking about buying and or selling, now is the time.
As we have discussed many times in the SchifferLine, none of us have crystal balls. But in looking at history and given the continued uncertainty of the economy and real estate market, I think it is fair to say that the vote is out about where values are going to go this year. The general consensus in our Brentwood Coldwell Banker office is that if you are considering selling now is the time. If you are considering buying, the low interest rates that we are all enjoying are not going to be around much longer. So at the end of the day, your actual mortgage will be higher if you wait and interest rates go up as every one is predicting they will, even if you end up paying less for the house.
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405 Widening Project is here.
The long discussed and delayed project is here. As I am sure you have heard and seen on the news, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is beginning the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV, or carpool) lane construction on northbound I-405 between the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) and the Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101) this week. They are starting by closing down the northbound portion of the 405 between the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) and the Ventura Freeway (US 101). Intermittent closures will take place for the following eight weeks to accommodate striping and placement of temporary concrete barriers (K-rail). The on ramps to the freeway are closing around 7:00 pm., and all of the northbound lanes will be closed from Midnight until 5:00 or 6:00 am. It is their intention to do the majority of the work at night, and given the time of year, it will be impacted/delayed by the rains as they were the other day. This project will extend into 2013. This appears to be a fluid situation as regards to timing. To get as close to having the current status as possible, I suggest you check out their web site.
www. metro.net/I-405. That appears to be the best we can do in getting up to date information.
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Borrowers Beware…..Or Maybe Not So Much
We have all had the wonderful experience of taking out a loan, and as required by the Federal Government receiving the Good Faith Estimate (Regulation X) which advises us what our closing costs (points, appraisal fees, “garbage fees, etc) for obtaining that loan will be, only to get our closing statement at the end of the transaction to find that those costs were not valid. Help is here! Effective 1 January 2010, there is a new law that requires these estimates to be accurate to the penny! If they are not, any differences will be made up by the entity whose estimate was not correct. The entire disclosure and its explanation that you will receive is 49 pages long, so getting through that will be the tough part! If you have any questions about this, please let me know and I will try to get more information as it is new to me also. Thanks.
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Emergency Preparedness
I don’t know about you, but I am horrified in looking at and hearing about the tragedy of the earthquake in Haiti! Those of you who know me, know I am really a Pollyanna, but I was also a “girl scout”, and believe that being prepared can hopefully make things easier as we go through life. In listening to the news reports, and comparisons between the conditions here and in Haiti when we experience the “big one”, they are saying that while our building codes are far superior to theirs, the fact that some of our major services could be impacted in the same way, only reinforces the need for us to be prepared at our homes, etc to take care of ourselves. It is for that reason that I once again am asking you to join me working in your community to heighten the need for us to be prepared and have the facilities necessary when that day comes along. So please join me in working toward that end…. ceschiffer@aol.com or 310 442-1384.
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30 Baking Soda Tips – Part I
Some of these are “tired and true”, but in my humble opinion it is always good to hear them again. Enjoy!
Special note: always spot test any home concoctions first before going all out.
Kitchen
– A bowl of baking soda in your fridge will help remove excess moisture and absorb odors.
– Sprinkle some in your veggies crisper and cover with a cloth or paper towel for crisper veggies that last longer.
– Sprinkle baking soda onto a damp sponge for cleaning out your refrigerator and benchtops without scratching.
– Dissolve a couple of tablespoons of baking soda in water in a microwave safe bowl, then bring to the boil in your microwave. Allow to sit for a minute or two, then you should easily be able to wipe out any baked on stains, plus your oven will microwave will smell fresher too
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– Sprinkling baking soda in the bottom of rubbish bags will help to control odors as you add trash.
– To give your dishwasher a good clean, run it through a cycle and use baking soda instead of detergent.
– Baking soda can be thrown on stove fires to extinguish the flames. The carbon dioxide generated when the powder burns starves the fire of oxygen.
– Wash chemicals and pesticides off fruits and vegetables in a pot filled with water and 3 – 4 tablespoons of baking soda added.
General home
– Anywhere that moisture is a problem, such as cupboards under sinks, place a bowl of baking soda to help control humidity. You’ll need to occasionally stir the powder for maximum effective life.
– Crayon or text marks on walls? Try applying baking soda/water paste on an old toothbrush and lightly brush the affected area.
– Water stains on wooden floors can be removed with a sponge dampened in a solution of baking soda dissolved in water.
– Sprinkle some baking soda into your vacuum bag to help reduce musty/pet smells being spread throughout your house when vacuuming.
– Sprinkle baking soda on rugs and carpets before vacuuming as a deodorizing treatment. Most carpet powders you buy are baking soda based! Just a brief note on this – not recommended for areas that are very humid as the baking soda may stay in the carpet.
– Mops can really stink out areas where they are stored. If your mop is getting on the nose, don’t throw it out, try soaking it in a mixture of 4 tablespoons baking soda and a gallon of water for a while.
-Stains on porcelain sinks, toilets and plastics can be removed by applying a layer of baking soda and then using a damp sponge. I found this to work particularly well on a water stain in a sink that couldn’t be shifted otherwise without the use of heavy duty chemicals and scratching the surface. Stay tuned for Part II.
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Please be sure to check out my web site…..www.caroleschiffer.com. I have the photos of all of my fabulous listings there along with some other interesting information.