SoCal Home Sales Flat, Though Prices Rise. Southern California's housing boom continued to run in cruise control in November, with the median home price up 15.4% over the year-ago level and 1.3% over the previous month, according to data released today. Strong buyer demand and the anticipation of higher mortgage rates sparked a rise in the median price to a new record of $479,000 for the six-county region, said DataQuick Information Systems, a La Jolla-based real estate research service. The percentage gain matched the 15.4% year-over-year rise in October, when the median price stood at $473,000. Sales of new and resale homes totaled 27,637, down 3% from October, but up 0.6% from the year-ago month. A sales decline from October to November is normal for the season, DataQuick said. The latest data provides more evidence that the area's 5-year-old housing boom, while no longer white-hot like a year or two ago, has settled into a more moderate pace. While homes are staying on the market longer — with sellers in some cases cutting asking prices — there is enough pent-up demand in the market to keep prices from rolling over, analysts said. Click here to read more.
Barry Stone: Ask the Inspector. Buy it and that illegal add-on is yours. Sellers are violating the law when they build additions without permits, but their legal exposure is about to evaporate. If they provide you with full disclosure of noncompliance, then you, as the new owners of the property, assume responsibility for future fallout. Click here to read more.
NATION'S HOUSING: Making good on 'good faith'. It was one of the major mortgage-related consumer complaints to federal agencies in 2005: "Good-faith estimates" of closing costs that turn out to be hundreds, even thousands, of dollars off the mark. Previously undisclosed charges for "processing," "administration" and other vague services mysteriously appear out of nowhere on the HUD-1 settlement form. What was estimated upfront as $2,200 in total fees can turn out instead to be $3,400 at the close of the transaction. That, in turn, forces buyers and refinancers into a Hobson's choice: Do I pay the extra charges even though they were never included in the estimate? Or do I call off the whole deal — potentially losing the house I want to buy or the mortgage I need? Click here to read more.
APARTMENT LIFE: Uprooted, and they are none the richer for the experience. Kevin Postema answers renters questions! Click here to read more.
Across L.A., it's the year of the rat. New construction and last year's rains mean more and more rodents are on the move. The real estate boom may have moved rodents out of their homes and into yours. Developers are turning vacant lots into sites for homes, stores and office buildings. And while a new house down the street will bring some new neighbors, it could also bring unwanted houseguests: rats and mice. Click here to read more.
Back to the 'burbs. The trend starts here. Southern California is the test lab for a new kind of suburb where homes front parks and residents shop on foot. No longer just sprawling residential tracts fanning out from nominal downtowns, the reinvented suburbs of Pasadena, Fullerton, San Fernando, Burbank and Irvine — to name a few — are pedestrian-friendly villages featuring vintage architecture mixed with new designs, mom-and-pop stores next to national chains, plus jobs a lot closer to home. They have museums, theaters, art galleries, concert halls and restaurants. "New suburbanism," as it's called, is putting vitality back into suburbia. Click here to read more.
~Tina Jan~
Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters
1655 E. Sixth St.
Beaumont, CA 92223
Work: 951-845-5520 Ext. 105
Fax: 951-845-4916
Cell: 909-446-2666
Toll-Free: 1-877-TINAJAN
tina.jan@coldwellbanker.com
www.tinajan.com
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