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News Brief - Rising Construction Costs
2007-10-12 00:53:00
The already high cost of commercial development will head higher in 2008 as a depressed dollar increases the price of fuel and materials, and wage inflation spirals upward, according to Ken Simonson, chief economist at the Associated General Contractors of America. Despite a lull this year, construction costs have grown dramatically for the past three and a half years. The producer price index is projected to rise at an accelerated rate by the end of this year and into 2008, reaching the equivalent of 3% to 5% annual growth, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. The consumer price index is expected to climb at the annual rate of 1.5% to 3%, which it has displayed in recent years.Source - NREIonline.com
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News Brief - New-home sales plunge 8.3% to seven-year low
2007-09-28 23:20:00
Median sales price down 7.5% in past year, biggest drop in 37 yearsSales of new homes dropped 8.3% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 795,000, the slowest sales pace since June 2000, the Commerce Department estimated Thursday. Sales are now down 21.2% in the past year, with no sign of a bottom in the crippled housing market.Source - Marketwatch.com
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News Brief - Equity Buys 104 Units for $23M
2007-08-21 23:09:00
Equity Condominium has acquired the 104-unit Alexandria Apartments for $23.35 million from a private partnership managed by Beverly Hills-based Astani Enterprises. The property, which is located at 345 S. Alexandria Ave. in Koreatown, was sold as a condominium conversion opportunity and was delivered with a tentative tract map for condominiums in place.Source - GlobeSt.com
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News Brief - Fed Target Rate Remains Flat
2007-08-07 20:43:00
The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to sit tight on interest rates and keep its focus on inflation.The Fed acknowledged that downside risks to growth have increased in its statement following the meeting behind closed doors. As expected, the central bank chose to hold its target for the key federal funds interest rate at 5.25% for the ninth straight meeting.Source - Marketwatch.com
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News Brief - Questioning Short-Term Rentals
2007-07-25 00:58:00
Question: We own a duplex and live in one side of it. We are going to be out of town and want to rent out our unit for a few months to offset costs. I called rent control, and they said that we would be unable to stipulate that the renters have to move when we return if we rent the unit out for more than two months. Is this true? Is there a provision for vacation rentals in the Los Angeles rent control law?Answer: There is no such provision in the L.A. rent law.If you rent the unit for even one month to a tenant while you are out of town and then want to move back into it upon your return, you have to follow the procedure for an owner-occupancy eviction.The procedure includes getting, filling out and filing a landlord declaration for owner occupancy with the Los Angeles Housing Department, getting approval back from the department, serving the tenant with a 60-day Notice to Quit and paying relocation assistance fees -- the amount of which could easily exceed any rents you may collec...
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News Brief - Commercial Mortgage Rates Climb
2007-07-24 22:40:00
At the halfway mark of 2007, leveraged investors are saying goodbye to the lowest commercial mortgage rates in 40 years and are coming to grips with increased capital costs. Fixed mortgage rates rose an average of 50 to 75 basis points from early April through June to approach 7%, increasing debt service on loans and decreasing loan-to-value ratios.The higher borrowing costs are at least partially responsible for the flattening sales volume of non-institutional grade properties and could force cap rates to widen later this year, experts say.Source - NREIOnline.com
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News Brief - California Population To Hit 60 Million
2007-07-11 20:25:00
California's population will rise to 60 million by 2050 from 36 million today, and by 2042 Hispanics will be in the majority, according to a state report released Monday. Hispanics will make up 52 percent of the state population by mid-century, the state Department of Finance forecast. Whites will comprise 26 percent, Asians 13 percent, blacks 5 percent and multiracial residents 2 percent.Southern California is expected to have the highest rates of growth. Los Angeles County is expected to have more than 13 million, an increase of 3.5 million people by 2050.Source - Sacramento Business Journal
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News Brief - Single Family Homes Sales Continue Decline
2007-06-27 02:49:00
Existing-home sales dipped during May to their lowest level in nearly four years, while inventories climbed and prices fell a 10th straight time.Home resales fell to a 5.99 million annual rate, a 0.3% decrease from April's revised 6.01 million annual pace, the National Association of Realtors said Monday. April's rate was originally estimated at 5.99 million.The median home price was $223,700 in May, down 2.1% from $228,500 in May 2006. The median price in April this year was $219,800. The 2.1% drop marked the 10th consecutive year-over-year price decline.
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News Brief - South Central Los Angeles Makeover
2007-06-27 02:40:00
$100M Mixed-Use Project Planned for Underserved South Central L.A. NeighborhoodA blighted area in South Central Los Angeles will soon get a makeover in the form of a mixed-use project that developers hope will lead to a neighborhood renaissance. Bethany Square L.L.C. is spearheading the public-private project, which will cost in excess of $100 million to complete.
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News Brief - Existing Home Sales Slide
2007-05-09 20:55:00
A realtors' association on Tuesday further pared back its forecasts for the housing market this year, saying stricter lending standards and subprime mortgage woes are producing headwinds for the sector.In its latest forecast for the real-estate market, the National Association of Realtors projected that existing home sales will fall 2.9% this year to 6.29 million, compared with its previous forecast of a 2.2% decline
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News Brief - Existing Home Sales Drop 8.4% in March
2007-04-24 21:34:00
Sales of existing homes plunged at the fastest pace in 18 years in March , falling to the lowest sales pace in nearly four years, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.Sales of existing homes dropped 8.4% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.12 million, the lowest since June 2004. It was the biggest percentage decline since January 1989, at the start of a severe housing recession.Source: Marketwatch.com
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News Brief - Hollywood Tower Landmark Trades Hands
2007-04-24 02:38:00
The historic Hollywood Tower at 6200 Franklin Avenue, along with the land adjacent to it, was sold for $34.5 million.The buyer, Alliance Residential intends to develop the property into 146 residential units in addition to renovating the existing 52-unit Hollywood Tower. Upon the close of escrow, duplexes on the land adjacent to the Tower were vacated and demolished.
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Santa Monica Apartment Building Sale Exceeds $360,000/Unit
2007-04-19 00:28:00
TMI Capital Corporation facilitated in the sale of 1115 15th Street, Santa Monica . The 1960?s built apartment building sold for more than $360,000 per unit.
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News Brief - San Diego Office Sale
2007-04-19 00:08:00
Los Angeles office REIT Maguire Properties has sold a pair of San Diego office properties for $298 million.Maguire Properties will use the sales proceeds to help fund its recent $2.88 billion acquisition of the downtown Los Angeles and Orange County portfolio from former Equity Office Properties Trust.
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News Brief - "Green" Buildings Grow in Popularity
2007-04-17 23:23:00
Slowly, so-called "smart" structures are taking root as concern over energy costs and interest in green building grow.Experts say smart buildings -- featuring cutting-edge, fiber-optic networking designed to improve operating efficiencies and expenses -- boast happier tenants and lower energy bills than other properties.
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News Brief - New Tax Deduction For Residential Home Owners
2007-03-08 20:04:00
A new tax deduction will make homes more affordable next year by allowing many American home buyers to write-off premiums for private and government mortgage insurance, according to the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America.The deduction, which will help families who can't afford the traditional 20 percent down payment for a home mortgage, will be effective for the 2007 tax year.
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News Brief - January Homes Sales Decrese 12.6%
2007-03-01 20:32:00
California home sales decreased 12.6 percent in January compared with the same period a year ago. Meanwhile the median price of an existing home increased 1.9 percent, according to the California Association of Realtors.The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during January 2007 was $559,640, a 1.9 percent increase over the revised $549,460 median for January 2006. The January 2007 median price decreased 1.7 percent compared with December's revised $569,560 median price.
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News Brief - Multifamily Sector Strong
2007-02-23 20:08:00
Continued high prices for homes and condominiums and increasing demands for affordable rental units have made multifamily properties the foremost real estate investment option, according to a report by the Real Estate Research Corp. and the Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute.
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New Brief - House Votes to Repeal Subway Ban
2007-02-12 20:41:00
House Votes to Repeal Law Blocking Funding for Subway Construction on L.A.'s WestsideOn Feb. 7, the U.S. House of Representatives repealed a law that bans the use of federal funds to build a subway tunnel in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles, according to media reports. A subway extension from its western terminus at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue to the ocean about 13 miles away would cost at least $4.8 billion and require years of planning, design and construction.
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News Brief - Commercial & Multifamily Loans Up
2007-02-07 20:36:00
Commercial and multifamily mortgage bankers' loan originations in the fourth quarter were 3 percent higher than during the same quarter last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.Fourth-quarter loan originations were also up compared to third quarter 2006, and year-to-date originations through fourth quarter 2006 were higher than at the same time last year.
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News Brief - Prices Increase as Home Sales Fall
2007-01-30 00:17:00
Home sales decreased 15.3 percent in December in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home increased 3.7 percent, the California Association of Realtors reported.
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News Brief - Higher Construction Prices for 2007
2007-01-26 00:32:00
Commercial construction costs will increase on average by 6% to 8% in 2007Const ruction costs could increase two to four times faster than inflation despite a slowing economy, according to Kenneth Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).Driving those increases are international demand for materials, limited domestic supplies and high energy prices. Labor costs will grow more slowly, 5% to 6% over the course of 2007, but still well ahead of last year's 2.5% core inflation rate, which excludes food and energy.
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News Brief - Souther California Homes at Risk
2007-01-25 16:49:05
Default notices jumped 145% in the last three months of 2006, accelerating a trend that began in late 2005 as home sales started to cool.This number represents the largest number of default notices in any three-month period since 1998.
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News Brief - Cap Rate Blues Erase Returns
2007-01-22 04:47:04
In the first 11 months of 2006, apartment sales transaction volume reached $78 billion and was on track for the year to easily surpass the record $88 billion total notched in 2005, reports Real Capital Analytics (RCA).From the end of 2003 through November 2006, average cap rates for stabilized assets, as tracked by RCA, fell from 7.4% to 6%. In scorching markets like Manhattan and San Diego, average cap rates in November ranged between 4% and 4.5%.
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News Brief - More Condo's Please!
2006-12-02 16:11:02
Developer Unveils 172-Unit Condo PlanLOS ANGELES-The Bedford Group of Los Angeles has started development of two residential condominium towers across from the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza shopping center, near Leimert Park Village. The development comprises one tower called Bedford Parc and another called the Promenade at Baldwin Hills, with the project collectively known as Bedford/Promenade.Source - Bob Howard/Globest.com
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News Brief - Redwood City Firm Buys $22M Apartments
2006-12-02 16:11:02
JB Matteson Institutional Capital Partners of Redwood City has acquired four Mid-Wilshire apartment buildings totaling 199 units for $22 million and plans to invest $4 million in a value-added play. The company bought the properties from a Los Angeles-based private investor in an off-market, principal-to-principal deal.
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News Brief - Visitors Flock to L.A., Region
2006-12-02 16:11:02
Hotel occupancy rates and room prices are expected to stay high next year. Downtown enjoys strong growth.Downtown Los Angeles is enjoying a tourism renaissance as record crowds check into new sports and entertainment activities, while other unexpected areas ? Whittier, for one ? are reaping a growing crop of out-of-towners.
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News Brief - Fed holds steady but is wary of inflation
2006-12-02 16:11:02
Policymakers expect the economy to gain steam and `expand at a moderate pace.'The Federal Reserve left its benchmark short-term interest rate unchanged Wednesday at 5.25% but said economic growth was expected to pick up ? leaving open the possibility of new rate hikes. Echoing its two previous post-meeting statements, the Fed's policymaking Federal Open Market Committee acknowledged that "inflation pressures seem likely to moderate over time" because of lower oil prices and previous rate boosts.
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News Brief - Shares of office firm soar after IPO
2006-12-02 16:11:02
Douglas Emmett's stock jumps 12.6% on the appeal of its Westside commercial holdings.Investors drove up shares of Douglas Emmett Inc. in its first day of trading Tuesday, underscoring the desirability of Southern California commercial real estate and the company's strong position in that market, analysts said.
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News Brief - Foreclosure Threat
2006-12-02 16:11:02
More Homeowners Going Into DefaultA housing market slowdown combined with rising payments on adjustable-rate loans is leading to a sharp hike in notices from lenders.The number of Californians who are significantly behind on their mortgage payments and at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure more than doubled in the three months ended Sept. 30, providing the latest evidence of trouble in the housing market, figures released Wednesday show.Source - David Streitfeld & Martin Zimmerman/LA Times
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