I have been feeling under the weather these past few days. I haven't been able to blog or write... much less sit up and read about anything. But I'm feeling much better tonight. Thank you everyone, for your concern! If you called me this weekend, I will be checking my voice messages and getting back to everyone on Monday.
As you all know by now, Sunday is my favorite day to consolidate the news articles that I read to share with everyone.
Married or single, you've got to pay the tax. Adding your name to the residence title owned by your fiance, or vice versa, won't change anything. To increase the tax exemption from $250,000 for a single owner to $500,000 for a married couple filing a joint tax return, both spouses must occupy the home at least 24 of the 60 months before its sale. You can each sell your principal residences in the same tax year and claim up to $250,000 tax-free home sale profit on each sale, thanks to Internal Revenue Code 121. That's presuming you each owned and occupied your home at least 24 of the 60 months before its sale. But you will owe capital gains tax, currently at the 15 percent maximum federal tax rate on the capital gain exceeding $250,000. Click here to read more.
Ten Signs Of A Real Estate Apocalypse. If California slid into the sea, would it take the U.S. housing market with it? After a few years of real estate boom, which spread dramatically higher prices to many (though not all) parts of the U.S., the market has recently seemed to change course. On Thursday, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that housing starts were down 7.9% from January to February and had declined 4.8% from February 2005, indicating less demand for new construction. That came three days after the National Association of Realtors predicted that this year would bring "a more level playing field for buyers and sellers on the heels of a five-year sellers market." This won't be a crash, but a soft landing for the real estate market, it appears. But that made us wonder: What would it take to make things really go off the rails? Click here to read more.
Housing Speculators Relocate to Hotter Spots. Some who scored with L.A.-area property take their profits to Las Vegas and Arizona. Their flight may soften the local market's landing. Southern California's high housing prices have at least one silver lining. They have kept speculators like Jay McKee from driving prices even higher — and from making them more likely to tumble. The former technology worker from Manhattan Beach was among thousands who caught the real estate investment bug during the housing boom. He bought an ocean-view condominium in neighboring Hermosa Beach two years ago, spent $30,000 to spruce it up and swiftly resold it for a $250,000 profit. Click here to read more.
Los Angeles County sales totals for February. The chart lists median prices in thousands of dollars for sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums by ZIP Code. Community names are included for convenience. Some ZIP Codes include multiple cities that, due to space limitations, cannot all be listed. Percentage changes are a year-over-year comparison for the reporting month. The price per square foot in the far right column includes only single-family home sales and does not include attached garages. Click here to read more.
Southland Home Prices Hit Record High. Southern California's median home price reached a new record last month, but sales continued to slow as the region's housing market continued its shift from red hot to lukewarm, data released today showed. The median price of all new and existing homes sold in the six-county region in February was $480,000, up from $469,000 in January and about 13% higher than a year ago, research firm DataQuick Information Systems reported. Last month's results eclipsed the previous high of $479,000 reached last December and November. On a county by county basis, San Bernardino County posted the largest price gain, with the February median sales price jumping 27.7% from the same month last year to $373,000. Ventura County followed with an 18.6% increase to $618,000; Los Angeles County posted an increase of 15.6% to $490,000; the median in Orange County increased 11.2% to $617,000; Riverside County experienced a gain of 10.2% to $410,000; and the San Diego County median grew 6.4% to $502,000. Click here to read more.
~Tina Jan~
Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters
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tina.jan@coldwellbanker.com
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