2023 – A Year of Learning
The time to reflect on 2023 is upon us. The year didn’t really give us too much to work with. Rain dominated the first half and interest rates didn’t make for a great year in real estate. In terms of world affairs, wars, gas prices, the health of the planet, …
Playa Vista Condo Buyers Should Prepare for the Next Buying Opportunity
One of the most common questions a real estate agent gets is “is now a good time to buy?”. This is a tough question to respond to, as the answer is most often based on the potential buyer’s personal circumstances. In terms of pricing, historically speaking, now is a better …
Late Summer Real Estate Market Update
It’s hard to believe we’re two thirds of the way through summer and kids are already back to school! As of this writing, the Playa Vista market has been sleepy over the past three months ending August 16th with 28 total sales vs. 44 in the same three months last …
What Does the Debt Downgrade Mean for the Economy and Real Estate?
Yesterday, the credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings, cut their rating on United States long-term debt from AAA (the highest rating) to AA+. This implies that the United States now has a slightly higher risk of default on issued long-term debt than in the past and a higher risk of default …
Cooler CPI Report Signals the End of “Good News is Bad News”
Today’s CPI report for March 2023 showed a .1% increase in prices from February, a considerably slowed pace of inflation. This was a reduction to a 5.0% increase year over year, which is down from a high of 9.1% last summer, but still well above the FED’s target of 2%. …
Changes California Can Make to Increase Housing Inventory
Since the pandemic began three years ago, our market and real estate markets nationwide have experienced unprecedentedly low levels of for sale and for rent inventory. Even with much-reduced demand due to interest rates doubling in less than a year, supply in most areas remains well below pre-pandemic levels. The …
A Couple of Bank Failures and a Near Miss
Wow! What a week! After I laid out the case last week for higher or lower interest rates ahead of upcoming scheduled data, little did I know that this would become irrelevant quickly. One day after my post, in a rapid turn of events, fearing imminent illiquidity, Silicon Valley Bank …
Why the Next Few Days Could Determine the Strength of the Real Estate Market in 2023
In congressional testimony given by FED chairman Jerome Powell this week, he stated that the FED funds rate is likely to end up higher than previously expected and they are leaving themselves open to a faster pace of rate hikes in the coming months. The most recent rate hike was …
Interest Rates Resume Rapid Rise
After a steep decline in mortgage interest rates from November through the end of January, rates have quickly returned to the up-side in February with the 10-year treasury yield rising over 50 basis points during that time. Following this rise in treasury yields, the average 30-year fixed conforming loan rate …
Why New LA Area Transfer Taxes are Dangerous and Will Not Last
Recently, voters passed two new measures in the cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica to establish additional transfer taxes on the sale of real estate. These taxes kick in for sales over a certain price with the additional revenue going to curb homelessness. In Los Angeles, this measure is …