Archive for the ‘Real Estate News’ Category

FROM REAL ESTATE MAGAZINE

Jobs, foreclosures, option-adjustable-rate mortgages, and interest rates are among the top trends that could dictate what will happen in California’s housing markets this year. Here’s what you need to know to make sense of how these trends could affect the real estate market.

1. Market Fundamentals
Three market fundamentals that turned positive in 2009 could be good indicators this year as well. First, home prices have fallen lower than replacement costs in many markets. This means a home can be bought for less than the cost to build it.

Second, home prices are “a lot more attractive” relative to rents than they have been in many years; and  third, inventory of for-sale homes has “dropped very dramatically,” says Richard K. Green, director of the USC Lusk School of Real Estate in Los Angeles. That suggests some markets have stabilized, although
homes priced at more than $1 million may be an exception. “There is still a lot of pain left to come” in that segment of the market, Green warns.

2. Jobs
“Painful” describes the employment picture and the outlook for wage hikes and job security. Moreover, housing may now be less sensitive to traditional jobmoving patterns, observes Stefan Swanepoel, a real estate trends expert, author, and speaker in Aliso Viejo. Home sales that involve corporate relocations or year-end job changes may be moribund until the employment situation improves.

3. Foreclosures
Jobs are an important factor in foreclosures, though “not everyone who has lost a job has lost their  house yet,” Swanepoel says. Homeowners who’ve lost a job may have had to live on lower wages or one income, or may have had to tap into their savings or retirement accounts to get by. “If they don’t get a decent job or a good job soon, I can see their houses still coming on the market in foreclosures or short sales,” he says.

Another trend to watch is that some homewners have dodged foreclosure even though they haven’t made their mortgage payments, according to Sean O’Toole, chief executive of ForeclosureRadar.com.
“We don’t have the political or societal will to foreclose on [that many] people, but nor do we have the will to bail out those homeowners who can’t afford their payments,” O’Toole says. That stalemate has slowed the pace of foreclosures, which may mean fewer opportunities for REALTORS® to list and  sell those homes, he suggests.

4. Lenders and Loans
Home loans are crucial to healthy housing markets, so REALTORS® need to keep an eye on national lenders that originate loans locally, Swanepoel suggests. “As they digest the companies they’ve acquired and find out what loans they have, what loans they are servicing, and what their exposure in certain markets is, they might change their rules and terms and conditions,” he warns. Tougher requirements for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) could have an effect on housing as well.

5. Interest Rates
Interest rates could turn out to be the ultimate wild card. How long the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates low is an unanswerable question on which hangs the future of housing. The Fed’s ability to maintain low interest rates is “the greatest risk to the real estate industry right now,” says O’Toole. “If interest rates go to 8 percent, this market is over.”

6. Option-ARM Recasts
Low interest rates have taken the sting out of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), but the payment option variety is still watch-worthy because a recast to make up negative amortization can result in an enormous payment shock, Green notes. “You could set up a fairly simple example where interest rates don’t go up at all, but the payment doubles,” he says. “If that loan was originated with a 90 percent loan-to-value ratio and you are piling up principal, you could be deeply underwater and unable to make the payment.” Aggressive loan modification programs have blunted the expected blow from option-ARM recasts, but many homeowners still owe more than their home is worth and 30-day delinquencies
have continued to climb, O’Toole observes.

That suggests more homeowners may throw in the towel. “Strategic walk-aways from negative equity and/or due to job loss are going to be a bigger issue because modification programs and low interest rates likely have taken up the slack from the reset/recast issue,” he explains.

The Valerie Fitzgerald Group specializes in luxury residential real estate in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, Santa Monica and Malibu. Valerie has more than 20 years of real estate experience and is known for her solid reputation in the West Los Angeles brokerage community. She’s also the author of the book published by Simon and Schuster Heart and Sold: How to Survive and Build a Recession-Proof Business. Buy it here.

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Home buyers last month snapped up previously owned properties at the fastest pace in more than two years, a Realtors group said Monday.

Home resales increased 10.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1 million units in October from a downward-revised pace of 5.54 million in September, according to the National Assn. of Realtors in Washington. The October figure was up 23.5% from the seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million units a year earlier. The last time the sales pace was that swift was in February 2007.

The buying was motivated by low interest rates, a credit for first-time buyers and cheap housing, the association said. The national median home price — the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less — was $173,100 in October, down 1% from September and off 7.1% from October of last year. Whether the stabilization of the housing market will continue remains a subject of debate among housing analysts and economists.

In a note to clients Monday, Patrick Newport, U.S. economist for IHS Global Insight, predicted a sales plunge in December, with mortgage loan volume tracked by the Mortgage Bankers Assn. recently dropping to a level not seen in 12 years.

“This surge may last one more month” into November, he wrote.

The Realtors group lobbied heavily for the extension and expansion of the controversial $8,000 credit for first-time home buyers passed by Congress this month. The group contends that the credit has helped motivate buyers and spur sales. Others argue that the credit, which has been plagued by misuse and fraud, has simply been a giveaway to buyers who would have purchased a home anyway.

The expansion of the credit to include a $6,500 incentive for some current homeowners probably will spur some sales, though many are likely to come from people downsizing into smaller, more affordable homes, said Cameron Findlay, chief economist at LendingTree.com. Soaring joblessness is expected to weigh on the housing market for months.

“Certainly, unemployment will be a factor in this equation, and I don’t see any short-term solution for that one,” Findlay said.

In the West, including California, home resales rose 1.6% to an annual rate of 1.31 million in October and are 12% above a year earlier. The median price in the West was $220,200, which is 14.7% below that of October 2008. It was the weakest performance for sales and housing price improvement among the four national regions.

The selling pushed the resold-home inventory at the end of October down 3.7% to 3.57 million, which represented a seven-month supply at the current sales pace, according to the Realtors group.

Distressed properties — foreclosures or homes whose owners are delinquent on their mortgage payments — accounted for 30% of U.S. sales in October.

From LA Times

The Valerie Fitzgerald Group specializes in luxury residential real estate in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, Santa Monica and Malibu. Valerie has more than 20 years of real estate experience and is known for her solid reputation in the West Los Angeles brokerage community. She’s also the author o fHeart and Sold: How to Survive and Build a Recession-Proof Business.

The Carlyle Residences is a brand new 24-story crescent-shaped luxury condominium tower that’s located at the center of  Wilshire Corridor’s “Golden Mile” in Los Angeles, CA. Built by ELAD Properties and developer of New York City’s Plaza Hotel, the building has 78 private luxury residences ranging in size from 2,700-5,000 square feet, each with its own private elevator entrance for residents privacy and security.

Whether you are looking for a solid real estate investment, need a residence in Los Angeles as your U.S. home base when you visit family, children and clients, or seeking a maintenance free primary or secondary home with the most modern amenities and 24-hour concierge access/valet/doorman…The Carlyle Residences are the answer.

The high rise luxury condominium offers its residents 24-hour white glove concierge modeled after a luxury hotel, and amenities including a fitness center designed by The Sports Club L.A., a private wine cellar and dining room, club room, a custom designed Chihuly glass sculpture and furnishings by Fendi Casa, as well a separate staff quarter units so they can also live on the property.

Watch these videos to catch a glimpse of what living at The Carlyle is like. For the rest of the videos visit The Carlyle Residences on YouTube.

The Exterior

The Lobby

The Pool

The Carlyle Residences are represented exclusively by Valerie Fitzgerald, a Beverly Hills real estate broker who has more than 20 years luxury real estate experience in the West Los Angeles area. For more information visit The Carlyle Residences.

The Carlyle Residences
10776 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90024

Model Residences Open: Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Weekends 12 to 4 p.m.

To Schedule an Appointment Call: 310-209-0000.

The Valerie Fitzgerald Group specializes in luxury residential real estate in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, Santa Monica and Malibu. Valerie has more than 20 years of real estate experience and is known for her solid reputation in the West Los Angeles brokerage community. She’s also the author ofHeart and Sold: How to Survive and Build a Recession-Proof Business.

As strong market reports on manufacturing, construction and contracts to buy new homes show renewed optimism, The Carlyle Residences, a development of The Elad Group of New York’s Plaza Hotel, sees an influx of international buyers contributing to analysts’ reports.

“The building appeals to many demographics,” says Tom Elliot COO of Elad Properties West, “and a high percentage of recent sales have been with foreign buyers.”

The latest figures from the National Association of Realtors show that existing home sales were strong in September, which means that conditions have improved for five of the past six months. Last month, sales were up 9.4 percent from the level recorded in August, and also 9.2 percent higher than the figures recorded in September 2008.

According to Valerie Fitzgerald, Exclusive Sales Agent at The Carlyle and author of Heart and Sold: How to Survive and Build a Recession-Proof Business (Simon and Schuster, 2009), “Buyers are back – but expectations are higher. No longer in a wait-and-see position, they are ready to buy but want better quality and a stronger investment value, which has forced the marketplace to re-evaluate, adjust and deliver on its promises.”

Celebrity residents like Larry King have chosen The Carlyle Residences for it’s complete privacy, prominent location in the Wilshire Corridor’s “Golden Mile,” and luxurious amenities including private elevators for each residence, and amenities in collaboration with Fendi Casa offering residents a grand lobby, common spaces and private dining room, Sports Club LA health spa with lap pool, lush landscaping, as well as a wine cave, concierge services, valet and doorman.

A panel of the country’s leading real estate brokers will meet at The Carlyle Residences on Thursday, November 5th to discuss the market upswing and discuss how this shift will impact the high-end luxury real estate market.

The Carlyle is located at 10776 Wilshire Boulevard, in Los Angeles, California. For more information, call 310.209.0000 or visit www.carlyleonwilshire.com.

About The Carlyle

Located at the center of the Wilshire Corridor’s “Golden Mile,” The Carlyle Residences is a 24-story crescent-shaped luxury condominium tower with 78 private luxury residences ranging in size from 2,700-5,000 square feet, each with its own private elevator entrance. The Carlyle offers residences 24-hour white glove concierge modeled after a luxury hotel, and amenities including a fitness center designed by The Sports Club L.A., a private wine cellar and dining room, club room, a custom designed Chihuly glass sculpture and furnishings by Fendi Casa, as well a separate staff quarter units.

About Elad Properties

New York-based Elad Properties, owners and developers of The Carlyle, is one of the most active luxury-residence developers in Los Angeles and is among the world’s premier real estate organizations with a distinguished portfolio of outstanding properties. Most recently, they opened Elad Properties West, headquarters to add to their portfolio valued at approximately $7.5 billion.