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| NEW LISTINGS
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$6,495,000
1054 Shadow Hill Way,
Beverly Hills
Over 1 acre of privacy! The legendary Shadow Hill estate has been In the same family for 89 years and never before been available for sale.
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$5,995,000
9255 Doheny Rd.,
West Hollywood
Buy the complete package at Sierra Towers. Two top floor units with an additional maids quarters. Create a total compound high in the sky.
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$3,495,000
9255 Doheny Rd. #3105,
West Hollywood
Endless views from the 31st floor in the Sierra Towers. Next door unit also for sale. Available as a package deal or on its own. |
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$2,495,000
9255 Doheny Rd. #3103,
West Hollywood
Second available unit with endless views in the Sierra Towers. Next door unit also for sale. Available as a package deal or on its own.
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$1,659,000
510 N. Kenter Ave.,
Brentwood
Incredibly beautiful architectural home with an enormous backyard complete with pool and walking paths.
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$1,295,000
300 N. Swall Dr. #408,
Beverly Hills
Gorgeous penthouse unit in the Four Seasons with tremendous views. Large 2,777 sq. ft. condo with 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths.
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$1,195,000
3019 Haddington Dr.,
Cheviot Hills
Charming Spanish home in the desirable Overland school district with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths covering 2,000 sq. ft.
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$759,000
4502 Gentry Ave.,
Valley Village
Huge lot surrounded by large grassy lawns makes this perfect 3 bedroom, 2 bath property ready to be called home!
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$519,000
1888 Greenfield Ave. #207,
Westwood
Newly updated 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo in the heart of Westwood. Very charming corner unit with lots of light.
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| IN ESCROW
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806 N. Foothill Rd.,
Beverly Hills
$6,495,000
10279 Century Woods Dr.,
Westwood
$4,250,000
1125 Wallace Ridge,
Beverly Hills
$3,400,000
433 Sycamore Rd.,
Santa Monica
$1,995,000
3215 Barbydell Dr.,
Cheviot Hills
$1,450,000
4598 Cielo Circle,
Calabasas
$849,000
5454 Genesta Ave.,
Encino
$839,000
2964 Motor Ave.,
Cheviot Hills
$835,000
720 Huntley Dr. #206,
West Hollywood
$749,000
1135 Shenandoah St. #402,
Beverlywood
$629,000
4348 Ensenada Dr.,
Woodland Hills
$240,000 |
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| | JUST SOLD | |
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4310 Park Paloma,
Calabasas
$899,000
10433 Wilshire Blvd. #406, Westwood $539,000
21139 Avenida de Sonrisa #14,
Saugus
$319,995 1526 East Garvey, West Covina $299,995 |
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GREETINGS FROM SALLY
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February 23, 2011
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February brought sweet valentines to our local real estate market this year, and that was especially true for those in the luxury home market. We have waited patiently for buyers to start seriously flirting with higher offering prices, and recent data indicates that the long courtship has finally paid off for homeowners.
Sales of luxury homes priced at $1,000,000 and up surged more than 20 percent in California last year. That represents the first spike in sales of high-end properties in five years, and is positive proof that the momentum is swinging in our favor in terms of a continued real estate rebound. That rise in sales also came despite the fact that the real estate market as a whole - which includes sales of lower-priced properties - fell almost 10 percent in 2010. However, this year even the statistics on the overall market are improving as home values solidify and foreclosure volume slows to a much more manageable pace.
A large reason the luxury market is seeing the most upward movement and activity is that these higher value homes are selling at deeper discounts. Soon those attractive prices will be a thing of the past, and buyers are rushing to take advantage of the rare opportunity. Lenders are helping, too, by offering a lot more jumbo loans. Interest rates are still historically low, which always helps, but the prevailing rates are heading higher. That will soon impact the mortgage market, and many rates on 30-year loans have already moved up past the five percent benchmark within the past few weeks.
The bottom line is that if you are in the market for a luxury home this is your best window of opportunity. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac just overhauled their guidelines, though, and they are requiring lenders to double check credit histories and loan-to-debt ratios much more stringently. As of February first, for example, they will check back for 120 days -whereas they used to only go back 90 days. They'll be looking for new inquiries for loans and over-limit features, so if you are planning to apply for a mortgage this is a good time to avoid increasing debt levels or applying for any new credit cards. If you have questions about how to improve your chances of a fast, smooth mortgage application process just give me a call.
Sincerely,
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LUXURY HOME SALES JUMP 21% IN CALIFORNIA | |
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LA Times
California homes priced at $1 million or more experienced a sales boom in 2010, the first increase in five years, even as overall home sales in the state declined, a real estate information service reported. The reason: High-end home shoppers went bargain hunting as certain parts of the economy improved but luxury home prices remained depressed.
Last year, 22,529 homes sold statewide for $1 million-plus, a 21% increase from 2009, according to DataQuick Information Systems in San Diego. In contrast, the total number of California homes sold last year dropped 9%.
"Prestige home buyers respond to a different set of motivations than the rest of us. Their decisions are less dependent on jobs, prices and interest rates, and more on how their portfolio is doing," DataQuick President John Walsh said.
"When the financial world was full of uncertainty a couple of years back, and the jumbo-loan market dried up, luxury sales plummeted. As the economy started its top-down recovery, some wealthy buyers went looking for a bargain," he said.
Savvy shoppers trying to time the market swooped in before discounted prices could turn the corner.
"Certainly, we're pretty sure we're at the bottom" for home prices, said economist Christopher Thornberg, principal with Beacon Economics in Los Angeles.
Even if prices fall further, he said, "if you are borrowing, buying today makes a lot of sense because interest rates are just incredibly low."
Two other reasons for the $1-million-and-up market increase are the return of the jumbo mortgage market in 2010 and a comeback in the stock market, which saw huge losses in 2009, Thornberg said. "A lot of folks who were reeling from equity losses bounced back."
Cash purchases also inched upward among $1-million buyers last year to 29.4% of sales, up from 28.9% in 2009 and the highest for any year since 1994. But even cash purchases can be motivated by low interest rates.
"A lot of cash offers are done on the basis of the person trying to get a leg up and then they turn around and refi," Thornburg said.
Million-dollar-plus sales hit a high of 54,773 in 2005 and then dropped through 2009. Last year's sales increase came despite a winnowing in the category; 3,380 of the homes that sold statewide for less than $1 million had previously sold for $1 million or more, DataQuick analysis shows.
Read Full Article |
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BIG CREDIT UNIONS BANKING AGAIN ON REAL ESTATE LOANS | |
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Los Angeles Business Journal
Local credit unions are beginning to return to commercial real estate lending, a business line that was all but abandoned by many lenders during the recession.
Lockheed Federal Credit Union, the second largest credit union in Los Angeles County, began offering commercial real estate loans last week for the first time since 2006. The move comes just months after Kinecta Federal Credit Union, the largest, resumed real estate lending after a yearlong hiatus.
While many commercial banks remain hesitant to expand their loan portfolios due to regulatory pressures and a continued perception of risk, the return of the county's two biggest credit unions to the marketplace will likely encourage its competitors to do the same.
"As we're seeing this stability set in now in 2011, credit unions are feeling more comfortable branching out or expanding the lines of business that are available to them," said Daniel Penrod, an analyst for the California Credit Union League, an industry trade group.
While credit unions have not historically been major players in commercial real estate financing, a number of larger institutions have offered loans of as much as a few million dollars to acquire office buildings, retail stores, apartment buildings and other large projects - though they tend to stay away from complex or unusual properties.
However, some analysts are concerned that credit unions, despite a conservative reputation, may be taking on more risk than is prudent by venturing into a commercial property market that they believe remains unsettled. The market is still suffering from a combination of high unemployment, falling property values and tightened lending standards, resulting in widespread borrower defaults.
Recently, there have been signs of a possible rebound, including stabilizing office vacancy rates in Los Angeles. But there are major concerns about the impending maturities of a high volume of loans originated during the boom.
Bert Ely, a bank analyst in Alexandria, Va., noted that many banks have yet to return to commercial real estate, which should give credit unions pause.
"It actually gets kind of scary if the credit unions jump in where the banks fear to go," he said.
Back in the game
It's unclear how many of the county's roughly 170 credit unions offer commercial real estate loans, but only a dozen or so have sufficient size to do so in any real volume.
John Bretthauer, senior vice president of commercial lending for California Credit Union in Glendale, said the number of active lenders is much smaller than it was prior to the recession. His institution stopped making commercial real estate loans in 2009 and has no plans to resume.
"Most of the credit union industry is shrinking their assets," Bretthauer said.
To officers of Lockheed, though, the timing feels right.
The Burbank credit union has not offered commercial real estate loans since 2006, around the time the overheated market reached its peak.
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NEW DEBTS COULD AFFECT YOUR MORTGAGE TERMS | |
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LA Times
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are requiring lenders to scrutinize borrowers' credit behavior before and after they apply for a loan.
New credit transparency standards imposed on lenders by mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae could affect your mortgage deal. As of Feb. 1, Freddie Mac began requiring lenders to dig back 120 days into your credit bureau files to detect any inquiries - signs of your applying for credit anywhere else - and then to check out whether any applications were approved. If they resulted in significant new debts, your lender might have to revise the terms or the rate you're being offered.
Meanwhile, Fannie Mae is requiring lenders to track or review your credit behavior after you've been approved for a mortgage but haven't yet gone to closing. That period often extends for 60 days or more. If inquiries pop up on your files during this time, lenders must check them out to determine whether any new debt might require a re-underwriting of the originally quoted terms.
For example, if the mortgage quote is tied to specific debt-to-income ratio maximums - say 31% of monthly income for housing, 43% for total household debt - a new credit card account with a $5,000 balance might require a new underwriting or even a higher rate. If the new card account shows up late in the game - a day or two before closing, with moving vans on the way - you could face some serious problems.
"We now tell our customers that they need to be ready" for much more rigorous screening of their credit, said Matt Jolivette of Associated Mortgage Group Inc. in Portland, Ore. "[Fannie and Freddie] want to know everything."
This means full disclosure on any credit accounts, big or small, that consumers have shopped for in the months immediately before and after their application.
"Our advice is this: Don't buy cars, don't buy furniture or appliances on credit until we close," Jolivette said. "You don't own the house yet, so don't buy anything for it" unless you pay in cash.
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