Timely Real Estate News………………………………………………………………………15 September 2012
******************************************************************************************************************
Feds announce new mortgage bond-buying plan….keeps interest rates low
It was a major new offensive by the Federal Reserve in the battle to reduce unemployment, launching its most extensive effort to stimulate the economy in the past two years. A new round of bond purchases targeting the mortgage market, a policy commonly known in Washington and financial circles as “QE” or quantitative easing, is being launched. The Fed said it would purchase $85 billion in bonds a month through the rest of the year, and then $40 billion a month indefinitely until the economy does not need the support.
And, there is more good news — the Fed also stated it is extending its plan to keep interest rates ultra-low into mid-2015, roughly a half year longer than previously planned.
The Fed said that without additional stimulus, the economic growth envisioned might not be strong enough to generate sustained improvement in labor market conditions.
We can’t predict how this will play out, especially in this near-election period, but these acts are already in motion, and it is the most “dramatic step since 2010 and arguably the biggest package of actions since its unprecedented intervention during the 2008 financial crisis.
Stay tuned!
********************************************************************************************************************
The wine tasting that became a movie…..Sideways still lives
Who says movies don’t live forever? If you’re a wine buff and love to soak in the beauty of the Santa Ynez Valley where the famous 2004 movie “Sideways” was filmed, you keep coming back for more. There is nothing more relaxing and stimulating at the same time as driving through the lush hills of Solvang, Santa Ynez, Los Olivos, and Los Alamos, where you now see vineyards planted as far as the eye can see along Highway 246, where Sideways characters Miles and Jack made their way from tasting room to tasting room to motel and back again. What all vintners in the Valley agree on — whether your winery was in the movie or not, the steady stream of tourists and wine aficionados makes everyone happy…the film continues to be a boost to local tourism and the all-important wine business.
“Sideways” has a relatively major impact on the wine industry. Throughout the film, Miles speaks fondly of the red wine varietal Pinot noir, while denigrating Merlot. Following the film’s U.S. release in October 2004, Merlot sales dropped 2% while Pinot noir sales increased 16% in the Western United States, and a similar trend occurred in British wine outlets. Sales of Merlot dropped after the film’s release probably due to Miles’ disparaging remarks about the varietal in the film.
But what didn’t drop were sales of wines, hotel rooms, dining, and a myriad of tourist-related goods and services throughout Santa Ynez Valley. There are several Sideways Wine Tours, of which several are “five-star” rated. And here’s what a wine blogger wrote on Yelp about his experience: “A few things you’ll need — a car, a set of good CDs, a bundle of cash to pay for your wine purchases, which can run you $20-40/bottle, and room reservations. It’s a big area, and with 70+ wineries and tasting rooms, pick up a copy of Wineries of Santa Barbara County….if you like Pinot noir, concentrate on the Santa Rita Hills….if you like Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, try Santa Ynez area, including the little town of Los Olivos. Don’t try and visit too many wineries in one day — at five, 1 1/2 shots of wine per tasting, you will need a designated driver to get you back to your hotel.”
And there is an “Official Sideways Wine Tour Map at http://www.santabarbaraca.com/includes/media/docs/Sidways_Map-Apr10-web.pdf
*******************************************************************************************************************
The more things change, the more they stay the same….
Stop me if you heard this one before? Sales volume for the four communities I report on — Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills Post Office, Bel-Air, and Brentwood — are ‘treading water’ — not moving fast in any direction, up or down. Sales volume through August 2012 was $1.495 billion vs. $1,450 billion through same period in 2011, a 2% increase over last year. On the surface, this appears to be an indication of a “slow down” because inflation, if nothing else, will move the needle upward and we have experienced an uptick in home prices gradually approaching pre-recession levels.
So what gives? What gives is that Bel-Air in 2011 had a “boom year”, logging in more than $240 million in sales over year-to-date volumes for 2011 (January through August) than in 2012. I went back to see what large transactions were causing this bump last year — and of course, Aaron Spelling’s $85 million sale was the mega transaction for 2011, but there were others, too — three other homes over $20 million and one for $40 million, and 9 homes over $10 million, all in Bel-Air. As a side note, all of these transactions are listed in the multiple listing service, but there are a number of transactions that do not…, but many times a celebrity for example will buy or sell a home and it is under the radar”, meaning that they are not reported to the multiple listing service (they eventually do show up in public records). Title reports eventually surface, so these sales will show up in the stats from other organizations such as Data Quick, just not the MLS, and the stats I am providing you are only coming from the MLS.
Sales volumes do not always measure strength of market as do median sales prices. To be honest, you have to throw out “median sales prices’ and regular “average sales price” when you’re talking about Beverly Hills, Bel-Air or Brentwood. How many neighborhoods have $85 million homes or four homes that go for over $20 million? Not many. We don’t live in “normal communities” on the Westside — we all know that — and that’s why we moved here in the first place. So my advice is to take all statistics, including mine, with a good dose of salt. I try to interpret these numbers in a meaningful way for you each month — and there are ‘grains of insight’ in these monthly stats — but in the end, I know that the only meaningful statistic you really care about is the “value of your own home.”
Speaking of monthly stats……
Each month I present the “median sale price” in your community from official MLS statistics. I believe this is a more accurate average that takes into consideration the vagaries of home prices — so when a $20 million sale hits one community, it doesn’t throw the median sale price out of whack by substantially raising the ‘average’ sales price on all homes significantly. It’s the standard for all real estate reporting organizations such as DataQuick and National Realtors Association (NRA).
So, where are we? Year over year, Beverly Hills continues its strong performance for 2012 — with a median sales priceof $4.025 million vs. $3.085 million for 2011, a 30% increase year to date. Bel-Air also remains in positive territory with a median sales price of $1.827 for 2012 vs. $1.673 million for 2011, a 9% increase. Beverly Hills Post Office and Brentwood at still trailing 2011 median sales prices — BHPO ($1.855 million MSP) is down 13% ($2.137 million for2011); and Brentwood is down 11% from last year, going from $2.062 million in 2011 to $1.827 million for 2012.
When you dig deeper into the MLS numbers, you realize that a community can be down one month but yet up for the year, as was the case for both Beverly Hills and Bel-Air in August 2012. Beverly Hills was down 27% for August 2012 compared to August 2011, which had $5.275 million MSP vs. $3.835 million for 2012 but up overall 30% for 2012. Bel-Air experienced the same dynamic — median sales prices were down 18% when comparing August 2012 ($1.456 million) vs. August 2011 ($1.791), but up by 9% through the end of last month.
The biggest movement in the past two months has been the steady improvement of median sales prices in Beverly Hills, BHPO, and Brentwood. Median sales prices showed an increase in August over July 2012 — Beverly Hills was up 39%, BHPO was up 40%, and Brentwood was up $46%; Bel-Air was down 21%.
Real estate prices are trending up for most of these communities, but progress appears slow, too. There doesn’t appear to be any alarms going off when it comes to holding our own in terms of median sales prices and they seem to be firming and moving upward. So, that’s good news.
***********************************************************************************************
Inventory Made Easy
Imagine the nightmare of having a home damaged or destroyed. Then, to make matters worse, imagine trying to remember all of the home’s contents for insurance and replacement purposes. Many thousands of Americans find themselves in that situation every year.
Now’s the time to make sure that doesn’t happen! Here’s how…
Homeowners can create a home inventory list with ease thanks to FREE access to the Insurance Information Institute’s “Know Your Stuff” software, which is available at www.knowyourstuff.org. The software is user friendly…available
as an app…and even provides free secure storage online so users can be sure their inventory is accessible in the event that their home is damaged.
After a quick setup, users can create a name for each room in their home–kitchen, living room, family room, master bedroom–and begin adding items. A drop down list is even available with the most common household items as well as the specific information required by insurance companies, in case a claim needs to be filed. Want to add a picture or a receipt for a large ticket item? No problem, just upload the image.
Once the home inventory is completed, it’s a good idea to have your homeowner’s insurance agent review the list to make sure the home has sufficient coverage.
***********************************************************************************************
5 Sneaky Cell Phone Fees – Activation and upgrade charges add up fast.
Thinking of switching to a new wireless provider? If it’s one of the major national carriers, expect to be slapped with an 
activation fee — typically about $35 — for each new line you open. For a family plan with four lines, that would add up to a whopping $140.. Keep an eye out for promotions that allow you to sign up without activation fees.
Even if you stick with your current provider, you may not be off the hook. The big carriers also charge an activation or upgrade fee when you are extending your contract and you purchase a new phone or qualify for a free phone.. Depending on your carrier’s rules, you might bypass the fee by purchasing a phone from another source — but first check whether you can use the phone you want to buy on your network. If you buy a full-price phone from your provider with no contract, you’ll likely dodge the upgrade fee — but you’ll pay a lot more than you would for a subsidized phone.
Early-termination fee. The price for exiting your contract early can be as high as $350, depending on how much time
is left on the contract (the major carriers prorate the fee). If you can get a better deal elsewhere, do the math to decide whether canceling now will save you money. You can try to negotiate to eliminate or lower the early-termination fee; if you have a good reason for canceling, such as moving out of the country, you’re more likely to succeed. Or try selling the remainder of your contract at www.celltradeusa.com (you’ll pay a $20 listing fee).
Texting charges. Most of the big carriers charge $20 per month for unlimited text messaging. If you have an iPhone or Android phone, you can save $240 a year by downloading the Textfree app, which allows you to send and receive text and picture messages free over a data or Wi-Fi connection (you’ll use a separate phone number for sending and receiving messages through the app).
411 fees. No need to pay a couple of bucks plus airtime to dial directory assistance. A service such as 1-800-FREE-411 will do the job, and you’ll pay only for the minutes you use. Or, if your phone has a data or Wi-Fi connection, you could do a Web search instead.
Stealth cell-phone fees. Check your bill each month for unexpected fees from your carrier as well as unauthorized charges that third-party companies sneak into bills — a practice known as cramming. If you don’t typically buy services, such as ringtones and games, from other companies, you can fend off the fees by asking your carrier to block third-party charges.
Let me know how you like your new iPhone5? I’m getting one, too. And if you do get a new cell phone or have any other electronics to recycle, please do not forget the easy and close by location you can take them to…it is located at the UCLA S.A.F.E. Recycling Center at 550 Charles E. Young Drive, West (adjacent to the UCLA Medical Center & Hospital). They are open Thursday – Sat from 8 – 4, but only take electronic waste on Saturdays. It is soooo easy.. you just drive up give them your stuff and off you go.. two minutes flat!.
******************************************************************************************************************
What have I been doing to keep myself busy, you ask? Not only have I been busy showing my wonderful listings and negotiating offers, but I have also been working on a short sale transaction for the last 4 months, and believe me it is a dozy!!! This is not my first short-sale transaction, but as my client calls it, it has been a Ninja battle to get where we
are today, which appears to be coming down the home stretch. FINALLY! I will let you know when we get there and close escrow, but I think everyone will be able to hear the sighs of relief where ever they are from both myself and my clients. If anyone has a good recommendation for a great feng shui master, I think we definitely will need one for this house!
Also I want to wish all of you who are celebrating the Jewish New Year, a joyous, healthy, and happy celebration, and an easy fast!
.
You must be logged in to post a comment.