For all your real estate needs in California... Specializing in beach properties on the coast, the Westside, Silicon Beach and greater LA.
My website: www.sandralew.kw.com
Email: sandy.lew.broker@gmail.com
Cell: 310-963-1623 CalBRE#01920376
Keller Williams Realty South Bay
23670 Hawthorne Blvd
Torrance, CA 90505
Mortgage rates still historically low as inflation is still at bay.
Mortgage rates fall, 30-year fixed average at 4.29%, Freddie Mac says
Interest rates fell slightly this week for 30-year and 15-year
mortgages, Freddie Mac said. But borrowers taking out adjustable-rate
loans were paying more. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
May 1, 2014
With inflation fears at bay, fixed-rate home loans got a bit cheaper this week, with Freddie Mac’s survey putting the average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage at 4.29%, down from 4.33% a week ago.
The average rate for 15-year fixed mortgages declined to 3.38% from 3.39%.
The starting points for adjustable-rate loans edged slightly higher, however, the big home finance company said Thursday.
Gross
domestic product estimates released this week showed a rise of just
0.1% for the first quarter, well below market expectations, noted Frank
Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.
That provides reason for
worries about the economy, but not concern that inflation could take
hold, driving interest rates higher.
Freddie Mac asks lenders each
week about the terms they are offering to borrowers considered low
risk. The cost of appraisals and title insurance, usually paid by
borrowers, is not included.
The
survey assumes the borrowers pay less than 1% of the loan amount in
fees and discount points to the lenders. Paying additional points
upfront can reduce the rate, while borrowers often obtain no-cost loans
by accepting a higher interest rate.
The real estate market continues to stabilize with foreclosure activity further declining. While the market is no longer flush with bargains those with homes are once again feeling wealthy again as home values have risen again.
Foreclosure activity lowest in 8 years in California, Los Angeles County
By
Gregory J. Wilcox, Los Angeles Daily News Posted:
California’s foreclosure activity has flatlined.
For the last
three quarters, the number of homeowners receiving default notices has
hovered around a level last seen eight years ago, according the the
latest report from market tracker DataQuick.
Foreclosures, as
well, are at pre-recession levels. It’s the housing market’s response to
an improving economy and rising house and condo prices, the
organization says.
It’s also become the double-edged blade of the current housing market.
If
you are looking to buy something — especially that all-important first
home — this is not great news because the market is no longer flush with
bargains. But if you already have a mortgage, you feel more wealthy now
than a couple of years ago because home values have been rising.
From January through March, lenders issued 19,215 default notices
to property owners across the state, up 3.5 percent from 18,568 in the
first three months of 2013, La Jolla-based DataQuick said.
Lenders issured 18,120 default notices in last year’s fourth quarter and 20,314 in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the number of foreclosures plunged 43 percent, to 7,799 from 13.592 a year earlier.
The
same picture emerged in Los Angeles County, where defaults rose 5
percent in the quarter, to 4,191 from 3,984 a year ago. Foreclosures
fell 45 percent, to 1,212 from 2,217 a year ago.
Lenders have been steadily extricating themselves from the mess
that resulted from all those goofy loans made in the middle of the last
decade.
“It may well be that the foreclosure starts in recent
quarters don’t reflect the ebb and flow of financial distress as much as
they reflect a steady state of workload capacity on the part of the
servicers. They may well be just working their way through a backlog,
stacks of paper piled high on desks,” said DataQuick analyst John
Karevoll.
In other word, foreclosure processors are still mostly plowing through
that pool of toxic subprime mortgages originated back in mid to late
2006, products that eventually helped plunge the nation into the Great
Recession.
Real Estate is still top choice for the "best" long-term investment.
Poll: Americans Prefer Real Estate Over Stocks, Gold
Daily Real Estate News |
Monday, April 21, 2014
Americans have renewed confidence in
real estate as a great investment. In fact, Americans believe real
estate is the “best” long-term investment, followed by gold, stocks,
mutual funds, savings accounts/CDs, and bonds, according to a new Gallup
Poll of about 1,000 adults who were asked to choose the best option for
long-term investments. Bonds were the least favorite investment among
the options Gallup surveyed.
In 2011, Americans surveyed said the most popular long-term
investment was gold. That also marked a time when gold was at its
highest price and real estate and stock values were lower than today,
Gallup notes.
“With housing prices improving across the country, Americans are
regaining faith that real estate is the best choice for long-term
investments,” according to Gallup. “Home ownership is also associated
with views of real estate as an attractive investment opportunity.”
Americans with higher incomes are the most likely to say real estate
and stocks are the best investments – “possibly because of their
experience with these type of investments,” according to the Gallup
poll. Higher income Americans are most likely to say they own their home
(at 87 percent), followed by middle-income earners (at 66 percent) and
lower-income earners (36 percent).
Home owners are slightly more likely than renters to say real estate
is the best choice for long-term investments – 33 percent versus 24
percent, respectively, according to the Gallup poll.
Southern California is still red hot for international buyers. Vacation home purchases surged in 2013 while investment home properties slightly declined.
International buyers like the Southern California real estate market
Posted:
Home buyers outside of the U.S. really like the Southern California real estate market.
A lot, according to the California Association of Realtors “2013 International Clients Survey.”
And they are especially high on Southern California, according to the association.
Of
the homes purchased by international buyers last year in California, 35
percent were in L.A. County, 22 percent were in Orange County, 20
percent were in San Diego County and 14 percent were in Riverside
County, the association said.
The international community is also a fan of our government and financial system, which I know some will find hard to believe.
Eight
five percent of the buyers shopping for homes in the state last year
said that they only considered purchasing a home in the U.S. because its
stable government and financial system would guarantee their home
investment.
Fifteen percent considered investing in other
countries, including Canada, Germany, Mexico, China, Singapore, Sweden,
and France.
Twenty percent of the buyers said they chose the U.S. for its desirable location and climate.
The survey also found that 69 percent of international buyers
paid all cash for their properties, compared to 27 percent of
traditional buyers who paid all cash and 32 percent who bought their
home to live in.
The international set has an eye for style, too.
Forty-four percent of the international home buyers purchased homes with
designer kitchens, 26 percent purchased homes with a wine cellar, and 9
percent purchased homes with a sauna. Other home amenities that
international buyers wanted include a private beach, putting green,
heated floors and outdoor kitchens.
The survey was conducted via email to a random sample of Realtors across the state.
It did not ask for the total number of homes sold to international buyers last year.
A
separate survey last week from the National Association of Realtors
showed that vacation home sales rose strongly last year while investment
purchases fell below the elevated levels seen in the previous two
years.
Not a surprise, really, because it follows the trend in quarterly reports from market trackers like DataQuick.
The
association’s “2014 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey,”
covering existing- and new-home transactions in 2013, shows
vacation-home sales jumped 29.7 percent to an estimated 717,000 from
553,000 in 2012.
Meanwhile, investment-home sales fell 8.5 percent to an estimated 1.10 million in 2013 from 1.21 million in 2012.
Mortgage rates fell this week as inflation appeared to be no threat,
Freddie Mac said Thursday. Above, a home under construction in Irvine in
January.
(Patrick T. Fallon / Bloomberg)
By E. Scott Reckard April 10, 2014, 7:40 a.m.
Lenders were offering 30-year
fixed-rate mortgages at an average of 4.34% this week compared with
4.41% a week ago, according to the widely watched survey from home finance giant Freddie Mac.
The decline in rates,
reflecting a belief that overall inflation remains at bay, was also seen
in 15-year fixed loans, which dropped from an average 3.47% to 3.38%.
Start rates for adjustable-rate loans also fell, according to Freddie Mac.
Freddie Mac asks lenders across the nation about the terms they are
offering on popular loan types to borrowers considered low risk and with
20% down payments or equivalent home equity in the case of refinance
loans.
The borrowers would pay less than 1% of the loan amount to the
lenders in upfront fees and discount points. It's possible to obtain
lower rates by paying additional discount points.
Creative office space development at Playa Vista in area of Southern California known as "Silicon Beach". The new trend in casual work spaces.
Fox pivots from constructing high-rises to joining the newest trend
in commercial real estate — making so-called creative office space.
Developers Ned Fox, left, and Stuart Gulland in front of Playa
Jefferson, their new office complex in the rapidly evolving planned
community of Playa Vista.
(Gina Ferazzi, Los Angeles Times / March 31, 2014)
By Roger VincentApril 2, 2014, 4:06 p.m.
From some classic Adirondack chairs in front of his colorful new
office complex near Marina del Rey, commercial landlord Ned Fox can sit
back and watch his property value go up.
The developer who made
his bones building skyscrapers in downtown Los Angeles during the late
1980s and early 1990s today finds himself with a close-up view of the
rapidly evolving planned community of Playa Vista and the young tech and
entertainment workers transforming the culture of what's become known
as L.A.'s "Silicon Beach."
It's turning into a busy neighborhood. Right across the street from
Fox's new office complex, steel girders and concrete walls are rising in
one of the largest commercial projects underway in Southern California.
Meanwhile, Fox's work at his
office complex, called Playa Jefferson, is mostly done. He saw to it
that a fancy metal Foosball table was covered with a thick sheet of
plastic in case of rain Monday but showed no concern for plush outdoor
furniture nearby that he says is waterproof.
It's all part of the intentionally casual atmosphere at Playa
Jefferson, which is delineated by three outdoor areas: the Front Yard,
the Back Yard and the Commons — where the Foosball table sits. Visiting
gourmet food trucks can pull into a reserved parking spot right off the
Commons.
Fox has pivoted from building high-rises to joining the newest trend
in commercial real estate — making so-called creative office space that
sports an open, casual atmosphere.
Across the street, developer Lincoln Property Co. is hard at work on a
$260-million retail, housing and office and housing project called the
Runway that will become the commercial heart of Playa Vista.
The neighborhood that was once considered undesirably remote for most
white-collar businesses has emerged as a prime address for creative
types who prize the laid-back look in their workplaces.
Tenants in the area include YouTube, entertainment media company TMZ and Sony Computer Entertainment. The Runway will include a Whole Foods
grocery store, a 10-screen Cinemark movie theater, "chef-driven"
restaurants and shops. There will also be apartments and offices.
The Runway should open by November, said David Binswanger of Lincoln Property.
Playa Vista already has more than 3,200 residences and still more are
under construction. The Irvine Co. is building hundreds of apartments
next to the Runway.
"Employees can live and work in the area," Fox said. "Playa Vista,
from an office point of view, is really maturing and coming into its
own."
Fox and his partner, Stuart Gulland, founded Vantage Property
Investors in Manhattan Beach in 2003 to get in on the new trend in
office development. Their two projects so far are a renovation of an old
industrial building in the tech-centric South of Market neighborhood in
San Francisco and Playa Jefferson.
Playa Jefferson is on land that was once part of Lopez Farms, which
grew row crops across the street from mogul Howard Hughes' aviation
business headquarters.
Industrial and office buildings eventually filled in the farmland.
The last occupant of the four buildings at Playa Jefferson was Citibank,
which used them for processing bank business and
research-and-development work on the bank's automated teller machines.
Citibank hid them behind a wall of trees and landscaping.
"It was kind of private," Fox said. "Citibank turned its back on the street."
Fox and Gulland bought the complex in 2011 for $35 million and went
the opposite direction in appearance, pulling down the concealing
foliage and painting the buildings bright colors. In a move suggested by
their architecture firm, Gensler, the pair tore the sides off an atrium
that connected to buildings and created the outdoor Commons.
The $20-million makeover also included the addition of a wooden deck and vertical metal bike racks.
"We mixed our building materials," Gulland said. "We want people to feel grounded to the environment."
In the 1980s and early 1990s, when Fox worked with developers Robert
Maguire and James Thomas to build skyscrapers in downtown L.A., most
companies wanted to give employees individual offices or at least
cubicles. That model is fading, Fox said.
"Companies are flattening their corporate structures, sharing
information and working in collaborative groups," he said. "Walls are
less important."
Prices for existing homes rose 12.2 percent in February from a year ago. Factors such as bad weather combined with higher mortgage rates has reduced the volume of home sales to its lowest levels in 19 months. There is still a tight supply of homes for sale as inventory remains low which keeps prices high as demand still outpaces supply.
US home prices rose in Feb. despite weaker sales
April 1, 2014 8:01 AM ET By By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. home prices rose in February from a year
earlier at a solid pace, suggesting that a tight supply of homes for
sale is boosting prices despite slowing sales.
Real estate data
provider CoreLogic says prices for existing homes rose 12.2 percent in
February from a year ago. That was up slightly from January's
year-over-year pace of 12 percent.
On a month-to-month basis,
prices in February rose 0.8 percent from January. But CoreLogic's
month-to-month prices aren't adjusted for seasonal patterns, such as
winter weather, which can depress sales.
Snowstorms, rising prices
and higher mortgage rates combined to reduce home sales in February to
their lowest level in 19 months. The number of available homes remains
below the level typical of a healthy market.
