January 19, 2012
Torrance Beach November 2011
Come live in the Hollywood Riviera, CA – This is about the most wonderful place ever to call home if you ask me. If you love fabulous views of the city lights, ocean and mountains, then you will love the Hollywood Riviera. The Hollywood Riviea is a lovely neighborhood in the South Bay of Los Angeles. It’s technically a part of South Torrance, but it’s got a Redondo Beach address…which makes it that much more chic.
Some of the favorite activities of those living here in the Hollywood Riviera neighborhood include: walking to the beach, walking around in the Riviera Village, watching the sunset from Rocketship Park, playing tennis at El Retiro Park, walking the dog to the Miramar Park/Dolphin Park to see the sunset, having a gelato from 22 Degrees in the Village, going to Redondo Beach Brewing Co. for a beer and a burger, go for a glass of wine at Friends of the Vine, drive into Palos Verdes (about 10-15 mins away) to have play some golf & then have a lovely dinner at the Terranea Resort. There are just so many things to do here – it’s just a lovely place to enjoy life!
Home prices average about $1 million dollars. Although you could buy a home anywhere from $500,000 for a nice condo up into the multi million dollar range for newer construction and a view. There are many options there too – please feel free to call Kelly and Laura and we’d be happy to give you a tour of your vairous real estate options here in the Hollywood Riviera.
January 12, 2012
What’s for Sale in the Hollywood Riviera – January 2012 – January 2012 is upon us and there are currently 15 homes for sale in the Hollywood Riviera – that is single family residences (not townhomes or condos – of which there are only 2 for sale.) The 15 Hollywood Riviera homes that are currently for sale range in price from $789,000 to $9.8 million. Now that’s some range, right?! OK – so if we kick out the ‘outlier’ the range is really between $789,000 and $1,999,000. The average priced home in the Riviera is in the million dollar range, of which there are approximately 3 homes that fit that category ($949,000 – $1,100,000.)
There are a few really good deals out there right now – in my humble opinion! Here are my top 3 in today’s market. If you’d like to see any, feel free to give me a call or an email!
1) $789,000 – 4409 Highgrove, Torrance, CA 90505 – A lovely 3 bedroom, 2 bath home that’s been remodeled and has a wonderful little backyard.
4409 Highgrove , Torrance, CA
2) $889,000 – 319 Via Monte D’Oro, Redondo Beach, CA 90277 – This is a great opportunity to make this home your own ~ Big Bonus ~ Ocean & City Lights Views!
319 Via Monte D'Oro
3) $1,149,000 - 339 Calle de Andalucia, Redondo Beach, CA 90277 – This is a lovely home with a great , open floor plan and a detached office in the back!
339 Calle de Andalucia
January 4, 2012
Ready for 2012? Here it comes:
1. Lose weight (cut energy use)
2. Quit smoking (purify indoor air)
3. Get out of debt (budget for improvements)
4. Learn something new (educate yourself on home finances)
5. Get organized (de-clutter)
6. Volunteer (support your community)
7. Drink less (curb home water use)
8. Spend more time with the family (share home improvement projects)
9. Get fit (exercise your DIY skills)
10. Be less stressed (use maintenance-free materials)
November 27, 2011
Typically this is a slower time of year for home sales due to the holiday season. Right now, there are only 19 homes for sale, and there are 10 homes in escrow. Many others have been removed from the market for the holiday season, and should come back on after January 2012.
Click here to see what is for sale right now.
http://reports.mrmlsmatrix.com/MatrixReportServer/Output/130294/Customer_Thumbnail6720.PDF
November 15, 2011
$729,750 FHA Jumbo Conforming Loan Limits were Extended Thru 12/31/2013 by Congress Today! This applies to our Los Angeles County area and is good news for buyers – which is always good news for sellers. If buyers can borrow money that’s good news for the real estate market in general. Thank you, Congress! See link from our local congressman, Brad Sherman here.
November 8, 2011
I just ran across this new listing here in the South Bay that sounds like a really nice property. However, it is a short sale listed by an out of area broker who has only one photo of the property on the mls. Not only is there only one photo, but it is a super small, bad photo, that looks like it only shows the garage door.
Yikes!
November 2, 2011
Hollywood Riviera Real Estate Market Update – November 2, 2011 – There are only 23 houses currently for sale here in the Hollywood Riviera. There are 3100 homes here….so that is a very small percentage for sale. The average sales price of those 23 (actually 22 homes as I’m taking out the $12 million dollar outlier for more statistical accuracy) is $1,208,704. The least expensive house for sale is $675,950 and the most expensive is $1,700,000 (again if you take out the $12 million dollar outlier that is a fabulous home on the Paseo de la Playa bluff!) For $1.7K you get a house that has over 3900 square feet and fabulous views of the ocean, city lights, and mountains – the Queen’s Necklace view! For $675,950 you get a major fixer on Calle Mayor – a bit of a busy street that leads to and from the Riviera.
If you want something smaller – a condo or townhouse in the Hollywood Riviera – there are currently 5 choices with a price range of $495,000 – $795,000.
If we compare this time last year with today’s market we find the following data.
11 houses are currently in escrow here in the Hollywood Riviera while this time last year there were only 9. The average price of those homes in escrow today is $1,104K vs. $818K last year. Obviously, there are some more expensive homes in escrow this year – like the gorgeous home on Via Monte D’Oro for $1,995,000. Wonder what it will sell for?
As far as Solds go - this year we have had 76 homes sell so far since January 1st, 2011 with an average price of $965K. This time last year only 68 homes had sold although their average price was almost 4% higher at $1,003K. So while more homes have sold this year the average price is down about 4%. This is a popular trend in most of the higher end cities nationally.
October 25, 2011
A fix for underwater homeowners who otherwise might have made a move up by now is hopefully on its way, at least if the Obama administration has anything to do with it. HARP – or Home Affordable Refinance Program - aims to avert foreclosures and allow homeowners who are still current on their mortgages to refinance no matter how much their home value has dropped below what they still owe. Obama announced on Monday, October 24th, that he will attempt an executive branch rescue of these underwater homeowners. This initiative allows these homeowners to take advantage of today’s historically low interest rates.
Imagine you bought your house 5 years ago…you can still afford the home, but you know it’s worth about $20%, or maybe more, less than when you bought it. These great interest rates are out there, but the bank won’t let you take advantage of them because your loan-to-value (LTV) ratios are off. This is why many homeowners ’strategically’ let the bank foreclose on their property. They would rather walk away then pay the high interest rate on a home that is not worth it. The government is specifically targeting these homeowners.
Now these homeowners might actually be able to stay in the house longer and not need to sell short or even worse, let the house go back to the bank. These are the homeowners who are potential ‘move-up’ buyers in the very near future. This will eventually help spur the market in the future. For more information on this program, click here and read the story by DSNews.
October 22, 2011
To the chagrin of some industry participants and the elation of others, the Senate voted in favor of an amendment that would reinstate the heightened conforming loan limits for mortgage loans backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
The amendment, introduced by Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) and Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), passed late Thursday with a 60 to 38 vote.
The conforming loan limit was previously increased on a temporary basis to $729,750, but the rate expired September 30 and returned to its original rate of $625,500.
If the House also approves, the conforming loan limit will rise again to $729,750 and remain there through 2013.
Representatives from the National Association of Home Builders and RE/MAX spoke out in their support of the Senate’s decision.
“The National Association of Home Builders [NAHB] commends the Senate for approving” the amendment, stated Bob Nielson, chairman of the NAHB.
October 12, 2011
Hollywood Riviera’s Market Update ~ As of October 1, 2011, there are currently 33 houses for sale with a range of $689,000 to $12 million. The normal top range if you take out that $12 million dollar outlier is $1,995,000 as the most expensive house currently for sale. That makes our average ‘for sale’ price come in at $1,205,000. (without the outlier.) Now the average days on market for those 33 homes is 97 days now. This time last year there were 31 homes for sale with a days on market time of 104 days…so we are pretty much on target with what’s happened last year.
There are 11 houses currently ‘in escrow/under contract.” The average price of those homes is $934,000 (remember this is the average listing price. We won’t know the average ’sold’ price until the house actually sells.) Usually, there is a difference here. This time last year there were 12 houses in escrow with an average price of $925,000.
Sold-wise – so far this year 69 homes have sold – that’s 6 more than this time last year. The average price of those sold homes for this year is $972,015 after an average of 81 days on the market. This time last year 63 homes had sold with an average price of $1,002,000. Looks like we are off 3% so far this year on our average price.
Big question is of course…what will happen for the rest of this year? Well, we can look at what happened last year from Oct 1 – Dec 31st and bet it will be similar. Last year 16 homes sold between 10/1/2010-12/31/2010. They had an average price of $895,942 and were on the market an average of 86 days before they got sold. With that said, the Riviera has 33 homes that would love to be sold prior to Dec 31st…but from what we gather from last year only half of these will sell.
What will it take to sell in the last quarter of the year? A good price is a good start. Typically, buyers are out to get a good price this time of year. Buyers this time of year are serious though….so keep your house looking nice and priced right and be one of teh 16 houses to sell in the last quarter!
464 Via El Chico is one such home! Does this home ever show well and the views this time of year are stunning! The city lights twinkle at night and with the nights getting longer there is more time to enjoy your view. AND they just reduced the price to $1,299,000!
