10/21/2004
Heritage Gardens
Although the rainy season may have started, you won't want to miss this site. Southern California consumes and depends on water from outside our locale, and water conservation is more important than ever as desert areas also draw more population and water demand is higher than ever. Not only is consuming less water through a less thirsty garden featured, you can also learn about plants that are more fire resistant and protect hillsides from slipping. By using this site you can see real people's gardens and their choices of planting; you can learn about the plants that were native to So Cal and save them to consider for your own selection later. An extremely useful site for much of California. Go to Be Waterwise here.
10/15/2004
More Info on Market Cooling
(October 14, 2004) -- With real estate sales sliding 7.8 percent last month in Los Angeles County from a 15-year high in September 2003, prices appear to be flattening out.
The median price of a home in the county held at about $407,000 for its third consecutive month, signaling to real estate and economic experts that the sizzling Los Angeles property market finally may be returning to more normal levels.
Still, John Karevoll of DataQuick Information Systems, which complied the statistics, warns that with appreciation still over 20 percent, no 'significant' price drops have emerged. He does, however, expect home-price growth to fall back into the mid-teens by year's end.
Source: Los Angeles Times (10/13/04); Haddad, Annette"
The median price of a home in the county held at about $407,000 for its third consecutive month, signaling to real estate and economic experts that the sizzling Los Angeles property market finally may be returning to more normal levels.
Still, John Karevoll of DataQuick Information Systems, which complied the statistics, warns that with appreciation still over 20 percent, no 'significant' price drops have emerged. He does, however, expect home-price growth to fall back into the mid-teens by year's end.
Source: Los Angeles Times (10/13/04); Haddad, Annette"
10/14/2004
Home Prices in L.A. Flatten
This Los Angeles Times article (10/13) will only stay online for a couple of days, it draws largely from Dataquick's stats on Los Angeles County/Orange County home sales for the last three months. Home sales have slowed, in some areas more than others, partly a sign of the time of year, partly due to the upcoming election, and a lot due to .... what? Interest rates are still fantastic, but may rise to as much as 7% by the end of 2005 (a CAR prediction by economist Leslie Appleton-Young), but home prices have remained where they are throughout the summer. However, as this article points out, there is no great decline in the median price for the area. Read here while you can:Home Prices in L.A. Flatten
10/07/2004
U.S. Homeownership: What Makes It Work
Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo wants to encourage homeownership in his country. He has his work cut out for him.
Millions of Peruvian households have been living in their homes for generations, but, as renters, they've accumulated no wealth. Here, on the other hand, homeownership has just topped a record 69 percent. That success hasn't come by accident. Our public and private sectors have worked together to make the buying and selling of real property not only a priority but also a safe and efficient process. To start with, we have a commitment to private property rights, and we believe in the professional brokering of property.
Other characteristics of our housing sector that others might learn from:
Mortgage financing. Backed by supportive government policies, our lenders have developed a wide variety of mortgage loan products. But just as important, residential mortgage loans are nonrecourse, which means lenders can foreclose property but they can't go after personal assets.
What's more, most loans here come without prepayment penalties. That encourages refinancing when rates drop.
The backbone to our mortgage finance sector, though, is our highly efficient secondary market. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks provide liquidity by guaranteeing and purchasing conventional mortgage.
Risk intermediaries. Private mortgage insurers and other companies—title insurers, appraisers, credit bureaus, and hazard insurers, to name a few—mitigate lending risk. Without them, lenders would make loans only at exorbitant fees.
In the public sector, the FHA and VA provide insurance or guarantees to encourage home mortgage financing to low- and moderate-income households and veterans, respectively.
Taxes. As a society, we show our commitment to homeownership through accommodative provisions in our tax code, such as mortgage interest and property tax deductions, large allowances before estate taxes, and capital gains relief.
from REALTOR MAGAZINE, Oct. 2004.
Millions of Peruvian households have been living in their homes for generations, but, as renters, they've accumulated no wealth. Here, on the other hand, homeownership has just topped a record 69 percent. That success hasn't come by accident. Our public and private sectors have worked together to make the buying and selling of real property not only a priority but also a safe and efficient process. To start with, we have a commitment to private property rights, and we believe in the professional brokering of property.
Other characteristics of our housing sector that others might learn from:
Mortgage financing. Backed by supportive government policies, our lenders have developed a wide variety of mortgage loan products. But just as important, residential mortgage loans are nonrecourse, which means lenders can foreclose property but they can't go after personal assets.
What's more, most loans here come without prepayment penalties. That encourages refinancing when rates drop.
The backbone to our mortgage finance sector, though, is our highly efficient secondary market. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks provide liquidity by guaranteeing and purchasing conventional mortgage.
Risk intermediaries. Private mortgage insurers and other companies—title insurers, appraisers, credit bureaus, and hazard insurers, to name a few—mitigate lending risk. Without them, lenders would make loans only at exorbitant fees.
In the public sector, the FHA and VA provide insurance or guarantees to encourage home mortgage financing to low- and moderate-income households and veterans, respectively.
Taxes. As a society, we show our commitment to homeownership through accommodative provisions in our tax code, such as mortgage interest and property tax deductions, large allowances before estate taxes, and capital gains relief.
from REALTOR MAGAZINE, Oct. 2004.
10/02/2004
Highest Annual Value Growth since 1980
Freddie Mac's home mortgage index shows by region the growth in home values. California, part of its Pacific Division, is included in this analysis: Pacific Division (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA): increased 3.9 percent (16.6 percent, annualized) in the second quarter of 2004. Over the last 12 months, home values increased 17.1 percent, and during the last five years, home values have increased 74.2 percent. This is the highest regional increase in the country--six New England states are a close second with almost 72 percent increase.
The next question is, and has been for some time now, is this sustainable? According to Freddie Mac economist Amy Cutts, only to a point: "Thus far, the annual growth rates are consistent with the market fundamentals of declining interest rates, a lack of buildable land that restricts the amount of new supply hitting the market, and despite job losses, the strength of consumer spending. That said, anyone thinking about investing in a house should probably consider whether it would still be a good investment if the value only increased at one-third or one-half of the rates we've seen recently. I don't think home values will come down, but their rate of growth will likely slow back closer to average levels over the next year or so." A rise in interest rates will surely bring lower home prices to correspond to the buyer's ability to carry monthly payments at the current dollar amounts.
The next question is, and has been for some time now, is this sustainable? According to Freddie Mac economist Amy Cutts, only to a point: "Thus far, the annual growth rates are consistent with the market fundamentals of declining interest rates, a lack of buildable land that restricts the amount of new supply hitting the market, and despite job losses, the strength of consumer spending. That said, anyone thinking about investing in a house should probably consider whether it would still be a good investment if the value only increased at one-third or one-half of the rates we've seen recently. I don't think home values will come down, but their rate of growth will likely slow back closer to average levels over the next year or so." A rise in interest rates will surely bring lower home prices to correspond to the buyer's ability to carry monthly payments at the current dollar amounts.
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