L.A. real estate news and insights.
With 4,713,157 views across all my social media platforms, here is my #1 most-watched video of 2023! #repost
This is the smallest house sold in Los Angeles during one week in March.
Most of the 7,044 comments were about the astronomical cost of housing in LA and how much cheaper it is in other states. The comment section is definitely worth a read.
Stay tuned for more videos in 2024! Happy New Year!
With 2,101,640 views across all my social media platforms, here is my 3rd most-watched video of 2023!
This was about the cheapest house sold in LA during one week in March of this year. #repost
The net value of property in Los Angeles County jumped 5.91% from last year to nearly $2 trillion, according to the county assessor's office.
It's the 13th consecutive year that the overall value of all taxable properties included in the more than 4,000-square-mile county has gone up, according to the Los Angeles County Assessor's 2023 Annual Report. The assessor's office estimates that it will collect $20 billion in property taxes to fund public services such as schools and medical care.
Pending home sales fell this fall to the lowest level since 2001. Pending deals dropped 8.5% year-to-year as the National Association of Realtors index fell to 71.4, the lowest mark reported since the trade group began tracking the metric in 2001.
My Take: There will be huge pent up demand in 2024.
Source: National Association of Realtors and The Real Deal
Fannie Mae has lowered their required down payment for owner-occupied, multi-family (2-4 unit) properties from 15% - 25% to 5%. This means you can buy a property with 5% down, live in one unit, and rent out the other 1-3 units.
The new policy took effect on November 18, 2023 and applies to several Fannie Mae mortgage types including conventional and renovation loans.
If you’ve wanted to buy a home but haven’t been able to figure out how to save enough for a down payment and meet your monthly mortgage payment requirements, your time has come.
Source: Crosscountry Mortgage
The national median price of an existing home sold in October was $391,800, an increase of 3.4% from a year ago ($378,800). Prices rose in all regions of the country.
These annual price increases have been getting larger for four straight months.
Roughly 28% of homes sold above list price.
Source: CNBC
Manny Pacquiao... what happened here?
This Mediterranean-style home has 5 bed/5.5 bath and 4,273 sq. ft. of living space.
The 2-story home features an open layout, high ceilings, a gourmet kitchen, a pool, and a spa.
Asking price: $4,500,000
Selling price: $2,000,000
Mortgage rates fell again today, 11/14/23. The average rate on the 30-year mortgage fell 18 basis points to 7.40%.
The bond market rallied after government data showed inflation was lower than expected.
Wall Street has started to lower its expectations for more Federal Reserve rate hikes ahead.
Source: Diana Olick from CNBC
Buy the home that Jennifer Aniston lived at while filming "Friends."
The property features a main residence, pool house, A-Frame guest house, a hillside bungalow, and panoramic views.
Asking price: $2,595,000
Who cares about high-interest rates when you are buying your home in cash?!?
About 43% of luxury homes that sold in the third quarter of 2023 were purchased in cash, up from just 34.6% a year earlier.
By comparison, just 28% of non-luxury homes that sold were bought in cash, little changed from the third quarter of 2022.
Source: Redfin
The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, the first time in nearly two years that the central bank paused rates over the course of two consecutive meetings.
While some have interpreted the latest pause as a sign that the Fed is nearing the end of its rate hikes, inflation remains stubbornly above the central bank’s 2 percent target, and the labor market is hotter than officials would like.
Federal Reserve Chair Powell said the strength of consumer and small business finances may have been “underestimated” as spending remains strong.
Barring any major news stories over the next 45 days, I'm anticipating a rate hike at the Fed's December meeting.
Source: The Hill
A cocktail of high mortgage rates and high home prices has driven potential buyers to back out of deals at the highest rate in a year.
Monthly pending home sales that fell out of a contract in the US for the month of September notched 16.6%, the highest since October 2022 when mortgage rates surpassed 7%.
Of the 50 most populous metro areas analyzed, cities in Florida were found to have been hit hardest by rising deal cancellations in September. Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami all saw deal cancellations above 20% of pending home sales. At the top of the charts was Atlanta, with 24.4% of home deals that fell through.
Source: Business Insider
Accessory dwelling units, also referred to as ADUs and “granny flats,” have been available in California only as rentals. But a new law is giving Californians the opportunity to buy and sell them as condominiums.
ADUs come in all shapes and sizes — for example, a converted garage, a small home in the backyard, or, as often seen in San Francisco, an unused portion of the main house.
Under AB 1033, which was signed into law this week, property owners in participating cities will be able to construct an ADU on their land and sell it separately, following the same rules that apply to condominiums.
Under the new law, local governments need to opt in to the ADU-as-condominium approach for it to be an option in their cities.
As with new condominiums, homeowners building ADUs must notify the local utilities, including water, sewer, gas and electric, of the creation and separate conveyance of the unit. Each property will also have to form a homeowners association to assess dues to cover the cost of caring for the property’s exterior and shared spaces, such as the driveway, a pool or a common roof.
Selling ADUs as condominiums is having success in places such as Oregon, Texas and Seattle. Sample sales for neighbor residential parcels with detached ADUs, reporting that a unit of more than 1,000 square feet sold for an average of anywhere between $500,000 to $800,000.
Source: Los Angeles Times
A recent report from Redfin said more home sellers are dropping their asking price. During the four weeks ending September 24, 6.5% of US homes for sale had a price drop, an uptick from 5.8% in August.
"It's still tough to win a home for under asking price, but sellers have come to terms with the fact that 7%-plus mortgage rates are giving buyers cold feet and that homes aren't as likely to attract multiple offers," Redfin said.
