Below is the Conjeo Market Report for February 2016 detailing local real estate market statistics and including year-over-year data:
Conejo
Economic update for the week ending April 9, 2016
Stocks down for the week – This week several Fed members as well as Fed chairperson, Janet Yellen, made statements about interest rate policy. They stated that rates will rise much slower than previously expected due to more uncertainty in the economy. This helped to weaken the value of the dollar which is good for manufacturers who export goods. The weaker dollar caused oil prices to rise. Oil was up 7% for the week with U.S. Crude closing above $39 a barrel. U.S. Crude hit a low of $27 a barrel in February, so oil prices have been on a good path to recovery. Energy stocks ended the week higher. Unfortunately, retail stocks got hit hard when Gap and several other retailers announced that same store March sales were down considerably. This and The Fed comments caused investors to wonder where the economy is heading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 17,576, down from 17,972.75 last week. The S&P 500 closed the week at 2,047.60, down from 2,072.78 last week. The NASDAQ closed Friday at 4,850.69, down from 4,914.54 last week.
Bond yields lower for the week – The 10 year U.S. Treasury bond closed Friday yielding 1.72%, down from 1.79% last week. The 30 year U.S. Treasury bond closed Friday yielding 2.55%, down from 2.62% last week. Mortgage rates follow bond yields so we watch bonds carefully.
Mortgage rates near three year low -The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey released on April 7, 2016 showed that average mortgage rates from lenders surveyed for the most popular products were as follows: The 30 year fixed average rate was 3.59%. The 15 year fixed average rate was 2.88%. The 5/1 ARM average rate was 2.82%.
This was a slow week for data. Next week we should start getting housing sale numbers and California March employment figures.
Have a great weekend!
Syd
The Hustle features Rodeo Realty’s Ben Bacal property video
The real estate industry just got about 1,000,000x cooler, that’s according to online website The Hustle.
By “cooler” they are referring to Rodeo Realty agent Ben Bacal’s 864 Stradella video.
The article is headlined, “This Video Advertising a $48.5m Home Could Be a Sign of Things to Come”. Writer Kendall Baker talks about Bacal’s video changing the real estate industry in a way that no one predicted.
“It feels and looks like a Super Bowl ad, not a modern day replacement for the classifieds,” said Baker.
So amazed by the real estate video—Baker said he decided to reach out to the creative producer that put the video together, Brian Bell.
Bell talks about his partnership with Bacal and how the two have been working together to create incredible high-quality videos.
“We never thought we’d get into filming real estate, but within two weeks, we’d completed two projects for him,” said Bell.
He says the Stradella video took 2.5 weeks, which included 2 full days of shooting.
“Our budget for the shoot was $40k, which included casting, crew, equipment rentals (we rent the top of the line cinema cameras, lenses, and equipment), all drone expenses, and post production,” said Bell.
Bell also tells Baker there are more exciting developments on the horizon.
To read the entire article, click HERE
Local Market Report Westside January 2016
Below is the Westside Market Report for January 2016 detailing local real estate market statistics and including year-over-year data:
Westside
Local Market Report SF Valley January 2016
Below is the SF Valley Market Report for January 2016 detailing local real estate market statistics and including year-over-year data:
SF Valley
Local Market Report Conejo January 2016
Below is the Conjeo Market Report for January 2016 detailing local real estate market statistics and including year-over-year data:
Conejo
Seven-Figure Home Flips, WSJ asks Josh Flagg
Los Angeles’ luxury market is blazing—and it has nothing to do with droughts or fires. Median sale prices of single-family homes increased by 37% in Beverly Hills and 12% in Bel Air and Holmby Hills in 2015 compared with the year before, according to Jonathan Miller, a real-estate appraiser who prepares market reports for brokerage Douglas Elliman.
Even in this heady market, some deals stand out. Josh Flagg, executive sales director at Rodeo Realty, sold three houses on behalf of clients last year—twice. In each instance, he sold the homes the second time for roughly $1 million more than the first time—even though no or few improvements were made to the properties, according to Mr. Flagg.
Real-estate experts cite a number of factors behind the sales and quick resales.
Zillow chief economist Svenja Gudell suspects the properties were marketed to developers, who will either fully renovate or raze and rebuild the homes at an even greater profit. “We see in the public record that some of these are trusts that sold to [limited-liability corporations],” Ms. Gudell says. “That can mean families selling to developers. Developers are often more focused on timing and getting the exact property they want, which can make them less sensitive to price.”
Mr. Flagg said the buyers of the Tower Lane and Tower Grove Drive properties were developers. He declined to disclose the names of any of the buyers.
Paul Habibi, professor of real estate at the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate also cites economic forces at work: “As the dollar strengthened last year, you saw foreign money get increasingly desperate to park itself into American assets,” he says. “It’s creating a bit of a frenzy, with lots of cash and people bidding up prices. People from out of town are never going to get the best deals, because they don’t have the insider knowledge of the market.”
Mr. Flagg has his own explanation for the seven-figure flips: “It’s the market and the intimate knowledge I have of the L.A. market.”
THREE HOME FLIPS, BY THE NUMBERS
Each one of these Los Angeles properties sold within a year for roughly $1 million over the previous purchase price.
TOWER LANE, BEVERLY HILLS
ORIGINAL SALE: $6 million, April 6
SECOND SALE: $7.6 million, Dec. 29
TOWER GROVE DRIVE, BEVERLY HILLS
ORIGINAL SALE: $6.25 million, May 29
SECOND SALE: $7.25 million, June 30
BEL AIR ROAD, BEL AIR
ORIGINAL SALE: $8.25 million, May 21
SECOND SALE: $9.1 million, Feb. 1
This article originally appeared on The Wall Street Journal.
THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY
The Valley has a long-standing tradition of people who live over the hill dismissing it as a restaurant wasteland — which has actually never been true and certainly isn’t now. For proof, we got two Valley lifers (regular Thrillist contributor Wilder Shaw, who grew up and lives in Studio City, and editor Jeff Miller, who grew up in Van Nuys and North Hollywood and still regularly visits his parents in Encino) to break down the best restaurants in the massive SFV, with an eye towards a geographic and financial spread. It’s long. Get ready.
Article courtesy of the Thrillist and you can continue reading it here
Joe Babajian of Rodeo Realty on working with the likes of Beyonce and L.A.’s luxury circuit
Luxury real estate is Joe Babajian’s forte, and the Rolodex of clientele the L.A. native has housed and de-homed over the years is hard to match — by which we mean, it includes Beyonce. The Rodeo Realty broker has also bought and sold homes for Harrison Ford, Nicolas Cage, Janet Jackson, Maria Shriver, and the one and only Barbra Streisand.
We spoke with the seasoned agent about Pacific Rim buyers, showing houses to Michael Jackson and L.A.’s rise.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up near Playa del Rey by the beach and went to UC Santa Barbara. Playa del Rey is a whole different world from Bel Air and Beverly Hills where I live now. Growing up in Playa might as well be like growing up in New York and coming to L.A., just totally different worlds.
What areas of L.A. do you prefer?
I really like Beverly Hills and Bel Air, and the west end of the Hollywood Hills — the epicenter of the city.
We’re powering through a serious upcycle that’s giving a lot of love to the Eastside…
It’s like that whole energy has shifted east. The studios have done the same. Hollywood Boulevard has changed dramatically over last 5 to 10 years, and DTLA, that whole east end. These young hipsters, rich kids who are young and with trust funds, they want to be on the east side in Silver Lake, Los Feliz and Echo Park. That’s not to say Brentwood, Beverly Hills, Palisades aren’t still desirable, but they’re not the only players out there.
You’ve been in the business for 30 years: How has the L.A. market changed?
There have been four international cities that have garnered the big numbers — New York, Hong Kong, London, Tokyo — places where things sell for $8,000 a foot. They have always been the top-tier of price structures for cities in the world. L.A. has always been an expensive city, but not at that level. What’s happened in the last five years has two schools of thought. One is this is the normal cycle and it will end in a year or two and adjust again. The other thinking is that L.A. is coming into it’s own and will be commanding within the top-tier price structure.
Why now and never before?
We used to be in the middle of nowhere. The east coast had the advantage with being near Europe. Now with the Pacific Rim we have an advantage. Things have changed. The wealthiest in the developing world want to own a place in the U.S. and L.A. has become increasingly attractive. We have a lot of wealthy Indonesian and Chinese buyers. Even with all of America’s problems, a lot of foreign buyers want a residence here because they want their kids to have a place to live when they go to college here. Our government isn’t going to be overthrown so a residential investment is solid.
So international buyers are choosing L.A. over New York?
The storms have really turned people off from the East Coast.
How much of the Silicon Beach migration are you getting?
The tech presence extends well beyond Silicon Beach. Larry Ellison bought a place is Malibu. His daughter is in the Hollywood Hills. The Minecraft guy (Markus Persson) bought in Trousdale for $70 million. Five years ago that would have been $15 million. Sean Parker bought in Holmby Hills. Eric Schmidt bought on South Mapleton Drive. L.A. has become a huge epicenter of tech moguls.
So the L.A. vs. San Francisco rivalry is of yesteryear?
There has always been a rivalry between L.A. and the Bay Area. It’s in their DNA to hate L.A. before they even know and see it. But I think the association (between tech) and the entertainment industry naturally has its effect.
What are some under-appreciated areas buyers should consider?
Beachwood (Canyon). The west end of Los Feliz…has great old 100-year-old Hollywood architecture, where lots of high profiles celebs lived. Another area coming into its own is Baldwin Hills. The prices are really low for getting a nice neighborhood with great views. It’s the new hip area to buy and redo. Also, there’s stuff by USC where a lot of homes are significant architecturally — Craftsmen, Spanish, Mediterranean, Victorian from the teens and 1920s.
Who are your favorite architects living or dead in LA?
(Richard) Neutra is one of my favorite architects. There are some really good Paul Williams homes I like too.
I heard you rescue Dobermans. Where do you like to take them hiking?
We’re a group that goes in packs through the canyons. I like Runyon a lot. There are some great trails in Brentwood and the Palisades. I like Temescal, Griffith, and Franklin Canyon too. Our Central Park is the Santa Monica Mountains.
I must ask: what was it like showing homes to Michael Jackson?
He was a real character. He really was like a kid. I showed him a few homes and he’d literally disappear and pop out of nowhere and you’d hear, “You whoooo!”
How different is selling to a celebrity than to a regular wealthy person?
The reality is you never become best friends with them. Your relationship is with the business manager or the assistant or the lawyer. It’s rare you become part of their inner circle.
Article courtesy of the Real Deal
Economic update for the week ending February 13, 2016
Stocks rally Friday to make up some of the week’s losses – It was a volatile week for stocks as oil prices sunk to a 12 year low on Thursday. This pushed stocks down all week as low oil prices hurt economies in oil producing areas, states, countries, and energy companies. On Friday oil prices jumped 11.5%, the largest one day gain since 2009. U.S Crude oil closed Friday at $29.23, which was lower than last week but well above lows 12 year lows on Thursday. Stocks rose about 2% on Friday as oil prices improved. The The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 313 points on Friday to close the week at 15,973.84, down from 16,204.97 last week. The S&P 500 closed the week at 1,864.78 down from 1,880.05 last week. The NASDAQ closed Friday at 4,337.51, down from 4,363.14 last week.
Bond yields drop – Investors continued to buy bonds this week driving rates down. At one point on Thursday the 10 year bond yield dropped under 1.6%. Yields rose Friday as stocks climbed to end the week higher than Thursday, but down from last week. The 10 year U.S. Treasury bond yield closed Friday at 1.74%, down from 1.84% last week. The 30 year U.S. Treasury bond yield closed Friday at 2.60%, down from 2.67% last week.
Mortgage rates at lowest levels in 3 years and near 50 year lows – The 30 year fixed rates below loan amounts of 419,000 are around 3.5%. 30 year rates for loans above 419,000 are about 3.75%. The 15 year fixed was around 2.875%. The 5 year was around 2.5%.
Retail sales climbed 0.2% in January – January marked the third straight monthly increase in retail sales. American consumers increased spending on automobiles, clothing and online purchases to begin 2016 with strong retail sales results.
Home affordability up slightly in the fourth quarter of 2015 – The California Association of Realtors reported that California’s home affordability index improved to 30% in the fourth quarter of 2015, from 29% in the third quarter. Year over year affordability slipped from 31% in the fourth quarter of 2014. They found that home buyers needed an income of $96,640 to purchase a $483,050 statewide median priced, existing single family home. Lower rates in the fourth quarter and slightly higher wages were attributed to the rise in affordability. Rates in 2016 have dropped over 1/2% so if that trend continues and rates stay at or near current levels affordability should improve, or at least remain at the same levels, even with the escalating price gains we are seeing to start the year!
Have a great weekend!