Timely Real Estate News………………………………………………15 March 2013
*************************************************************************************************************
We’re all Irish on St. Patrick’s Day….wearing the green, getting pinched if you don’t
As long as I can remember, St. Patrick’s Day has been a special day. For lots of fun and frivolous reasons, many of us enjoy this celebration of St. Paddy’s Day even though we’re not Irish….and why not? The Irish certainly want us to participate in
this transcontinental celebration of Irish culture, replete with food, beer and traditions….like “wearing the green” and getting pinched (somewhere) when you don’t don a piece of green attire. And of course, many of us will have a beer (green or not) and what we have come to believe is the traditional Irish dinner of corned beef and cabbage. And of course, there is the annual New York St. Patrick’s Day parade — most famous of all — which will be on Sunday, March 17.
Green was the first color associated with St. Patrick’s Day, dating back to the 17th century — as green is part of the Ireland’s tri-color flag and Ireland has always been known as the Emerald Isle. And Chicago takes it a bit farther down the Irish road — they color the Chicago River green on St. Patrick’s Day and have been doing it for the past 40 years. A little bit more trivia for the day… the first St Patrick’s day parade was actually held in New York City, it was only after a few years that it was also held in Ireland. Getting pinched for not wearing Green is purely an American tradition….which is said to have started in the 1700s, but what you probably don’t know that the Irish believed that wearing green made one “invisible to leprechauns, fairy creatures who would pinch anyone they could see not wearing green.
*******************************************************************************************************************
Sales volumes continue upward…..a few big ones, but lots of medium-priced homes make difference
Already in 2013, sales volumes for the four communities I report on — Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills Post Office, Bel-Air, and Brentwood — have broken through the $200 million barrier for this year, recording more than $256 million in total sales through the first two months of 2013 which is a 41% increase over last year at this time, when we hit $181 million by the end of February 2012. When you look at our MLS stats for 2012 and comparing 2011, we only experienced a 3.5% increase over the previous year for the same period, which is — again — demonstrating the continued strength of the Westside market on many fronts that we are seeing today.
Bel-Air had a $40 million month in February, highlighted by two large sales — one for $11+ million and one for $19+ million, which is not unusual for this lovely community. Brentwood was ahead in sales volume with more than $50 million and while it had one sale for over $14 million, it was the bread-and-butter sales of homes ranging in the $1.235 million to $3.335 
million that made up the majority of the homes sold in February 2013.
What is medium priced in these four communities, of course, is a far cry from most areas in the United States, and sometimes, because we are blessed with beautiful neighborhoods and fine homes, we attract well-qualified buyers from around the world who are willing to pay top dollar for exquisite homes. And we get buyers from around the world, scouring our neighborhoods for good deals of course. Unfortunately, though, our inventory is relatively low on quality properties, but it is improving as prices move up and sellers are moving more comfortably back into the market.
****************************************************************************************************************
Median sales prices remain steady in February 2013
What everyone is looking for these days are real “signs” — not tea leaves — but solid trends such as median sales prices that 
have guided me in evaluating the local real estate market for the past 30 years. While sales volumes are up significantly in Beverly Hills, Bel-Air and Brentwood over 2013 year to date, the median sales in these communities
remained almost unchanged: Beverly Hills’s median sales price was down only 5% in February for the same period in 2012. But median sales prices were up in the three other communities I report on: Beverly Hills Post Office registered
a 1% gain over last February 2012….Bel-Air was up 4% for that same period, and Brentwood was up 2% over 2012 as well.
For the year, however, Beverly Hills was even through the first two months of 2013 compared to 2012, BHPO was down 11%, Bel-Air was down 5% and Brentwood was up 9%. What this means is the same-old story — it’s too early to judge how home prices will fare for the balance of the year — but volumes means lots of interest, lots of buyers, and competition is always healthy for the real estate market. Median sales prices for Beverly Hills for February 2013 were $4 million; Beverly Hills Post Office was $1.744 million; Bel-Air was $1.682 million and Brentwood was $2.275 million.
When comparing the Sales Price with the Listing Price, the #s in all four of these communities are almost identical — in the $94% to 95% range — comparing Sales Price to the Original Listing Price, however, the #s drop off in some areas — Beverly Hills is 82.56%….Bel-Air is 88.82%…..but Beverly Hills Post Office is 96.82% and Brentwood recorded 97.96% when comparing Sales Price to Original Listing Price.
We are still seeing an increase in open house attendance, and my personal business continues to be strong during the first quarter of this year, both of which are the best signs of all — sales of both leases and homes.
******************************************************************************************************************
UCLA Anderson’s Forecast predicts US economy poised for ‘real growth’….housing leads way
We didn’t know “when”, but eventually our ‘faith’ in turning our economy around was imminent — the signs I have been talking about in recent issues of the SchifferLine have all pointed to a broader recovery, because — as UCLA Forecasts states — “housing leads the way.” And as we have seen already in 2013, home sales have jumped significantly, with a 41% increase of 
sales volume in 2012. Anderson’s Forecast goes on to say that California is going to play a major role in this recovery. Although employment slowed at the end of last year, the Report stated, the employment picture is expected to brighten, helping the US and California shake off their economic doldrums according to the quarterly report issued Wednesday, March 13.
“The automatic federal budget cuts, however, are not going to have the dramatic negative impact predicted earlier this year….”the cuts, known as sequestration, are expected to dampen economic activity somewhat, but not to the extent the administration has outlined,” according to David Shulman, a senior economist with the Anderson Forecast, and he expects a compromise of some “sorts to emerge from Congress this spring.”
“Housing led the downturn,” Shulman stated, but “it is now leading the upturn.” But the encouraging news is the projected future….the country’s gross domestic product is expected to grow to 1.9% this year, 2.8% in 2014, and 3.1% in 2015, more than double where we were in 2012. And the really good news is that Anderson states that “California has not lost its edge…there is no statistical evidence that it has.”
With the stock market up and with real estate sales volumes steadily climbing in the four communities I report on, I am cautiously optimistic about the rest of 2013 and beyond, and it’s nice to have Anderson supporting this optimism.
****************************************************************************************************************
Homes prices are moving up across the nation.
I normally don’t comment on every national story that concerns real estate because we on the Westside do have a “different, unique market”, but there are stories that merit a comment, especially this one from Trulia, an NYSE-listed company 
specializing in real estate tracking and analysis. According to Trulia, “since bottoming 12 months ago, national asking home prices rose 7.0 percent year-over-year in February 2012”. Seasonally adjusted, asking prices also increased 1.4 percent month-over-month and 3.0 percent quarter-over-quarter – marking two post-recession highs. Asking prices locally are up in 90 of the 100 largest US metros, rising fastest in Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Oakland.
Inventory will not turn around in 2013 even though decline is slowing down ……Trulia also reported that inventory falls most sharply just after prices bottom, creating an “inventory spiral”: rising prices reduce inventory as would-be home sellers hold off in the hopes of selling later at a higher price, and falling inventory boosts prices further as buyers compete for a limited number of for-sale homes. Here is the link to the interactive Los Angeles Times map where you will see the 10 fastest recovering local ZIP codes. http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-recovery-markets-map-20130308-dto,0,7204398.htmlstory
These are all potential local investment locations that I certainly can assist you with.
*****************************************************************************************************************
Easter comes early this year — March 31….and so do Easter Egg hunts — here’s where
For those of you looking for a fun experience for your children, Easter Egg hunts are organized in a variety of venues throughout the Los Angeles area — here are just a few. Please check the web sites to determine specific times and costs — most are free.
Blind Children’s Center Beeping Easter Egg Hunt – See their website for the 2013 date!
4120 Marathon Street, Los Angeles, California 90029. Open:. Admission: Phone: (323) 664-2153 Ext 342.
Egg Scramble and Egg-spedition Egg Hunt at The LA County Arboretum & Botanic Garden– An Easter egg hunt and crafts for kids of all ages. LA County Arboretum, 310 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007. Phone: (626) 821-5897.
Kidspace Children’s Museum – Hundreds of candy-filled eggs will be hidden throughout the Kidspace Gardens just waiting to be found!
480 N. Arroyo Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91103. Phone: (626) 449-9144. Sunday, March 31, 2013.
Los Angeles Zoo’s Big Bunny’s Spring Fling –
5333 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Phone: (323) 644-4200. Open: March 29 (Friday), 30 (Saturday), and 31 (Sunday) 10am -4pm.
Malibu Easter Hoppening – Malibu Bluffs Park, 24250 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA. Phone: (310) 317-1364. Open: Saturday, March 30, 2013 11:30 am. Hunt begins at 12:00 pm sharp.. Egg Hunt for Children (ages 1-10)
Ritz Carlton Easter Sunday Champagne Brunch and Easter Egg Hunt-, See their website .The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey,
You might also check out the website.. http://redtri.com/los-angeles-kids as they have some other fun listings.
*****************************************************************************************************************
Re-using and recycling egg cartons
With the Easter & Passover Holidays coming up, a lot of eggs will be consumed. According to data from the American egg board; in 2011, 247.8 eggs per person were consumed in the USA (egg in shell and in products). It’s a lot of eggs and while not all are transported in the egg cartons we see in the supermarket; it would still work out to be many millions of cartons each year being discarded.
What are egg cartons made of?
An egg carton may be made from plastics such as Styrofoam or from recycled paper and molded pulp. One way to make your egg consumption a little more environmentally friendly is to ensure you buy eggs in paper based packaging as Styrofoam is difficult to recycle.
Recycling egg cartons
If the eggs you buy are in plastic packaging that isn’t Styrofoam; look for a triangle with a number inside it stamped on the 
packaging. This is a plastic resin code and depending on the number, it may be possible to place this packaging in your recycling bin. Even though the paper based version of the packaging is biodegradable, when thrown in with your general household rubbish it will likely wind up in landfill where the decomposition process takes a lot longer and take up valuable space. Additionally, as the waste in landfill is buried, decomposition occurs in an anaerobic environment, which is one without oxygen.
Instead of going into your general rubbish bin, paper based egg cartons should be put into your recycling bin; but given the nature of their construction, they also break down very quickly in compost piles – so you can use them to help benefit your garden.
Egg cartons also make for tasty worm food. If you have a worm farm, soak the cartons in water for a while and feed them to the little critters – they’ll make short work of the cartons. On a related point, egg shells are also great in worm farms as the shell provides grit to help the worms digest organic waste materials.
Other uses for egg cartons
Egg cartons don’t have to be waste – there are other ways to use both the paper and plastic forms. Here are a few ideas. Inquire with your local primary/pre-schools if they need cartons for craft projects. I still remember an alligator I made with an egg carton when I was a very young lad and using the cartons in class as a type of paint palette. Art departments also use the cartons for papier mache projects as paper based cartons are basically just papier mache themselves.
– Use for craft projects at home. Use the cartons as seedling starters – plastic egg cartons can also be used in this application. Handy for organizing small items such as nuts, bolts and screws. Use as packing materials
when shipping goods. As a way of storing delicate Xmas tree bauble decorations.
****************************************************************************************************************
I continue to be busy working with clients from all over the world . There has been much conversation regarding multiple 
offers on sales, but believe it or not, I have been involved in multiple offers on leases! As you know,
I am also a mentor, and currently have 8 mentees that I am working with. One of them has her first listing of a sweet little house in West Los Angeles. We are expecting approximately 20 something offers when they are reviewed next Tuesday!
I want to wish all of my readers who celebrate Passover and Easter, a wonderful holiday!!!
You must be logged in to post a comment.