Real Estate News for Monday, April 2nd, 2007

UCLA: Significant slowing of the California economy. The national economy does not face recession although the length of the current, below-trend growth period is of concern, according to the quarterly report of the UCLA Anderson Forecast, issued Monday. “The credit crunch in the subprime mortgage market will likely trigger a second leg down in the housing market in terms of output and prices,” the report says. The slowed economy may well endure longer than previously expected, but that better-than-expected consumption, a “less-negative” trade sector and at least two and possibly three rate cuts will keep Gross Domestic Product (GDP) positive throughout 2007, the economic forecast predicts. But in California – and in spite of some positive news in the form of revised employment revisions – the UCLA Anderson Forecast looks for a “significant slowing of the California economy in 2007, as the double-whammy from construction and mortgage finance creates drag on the rest of the (state’s) economy.” Click here to read more.

Subprime worries shake up housing market. While Orange County won't be affected as much as other areas that rely more heavily on lending for risky borrowers, tighter standards will eliminate some home buyers here while pushing others into foreclosure, experts say. Click here to read more.

Posh and Becks suffer real estate inflation in LA. "It's pretty hard to keep identities secret when you are interested in multimillion-dollar mansions," an unnamed real estate savvy source tells People. "Once sellers find out who's interested in buying, the prices skyrocket. It's ridiculous." Due to this boomerang effect, "Victoria and David have still not decided on a house for when they move to L.A. ... They refuse to pay above the odds just because they are famous." The Beckhams planned on a California move after Beckham, 31, signed a huge five-year deal with the L.A. Galaxy team. Click here to read more.

Ellen DeGeneres' Second Career: High-End House Flipper. Ellen DeGeneres has become a major real estate tycoon, reports Big Time Listings. She's flipping her Montecito, California estate, which she bought less than six months ago. DeGeneres bought the estate, which has reportedly been renovated and newly landscaped, for $15.75 million. It's now on the market for $24 million. Click here to read more.

Luxury Home Super States. Which states have the most $1 million-plus homes? And yes, there are a lot more today than five years ago. California, New York, Florida: It's no big surprise that this luxury-home trifecta topped the list of states with the most homes valued at $1 million or more in 2005. The rich may get richer and the homes pricier, but the lineup of the biggest luxury real estate markets changes little from year to year. What makes these states perennial winners? The obvious answers: lifestyle and jobs. Earthquakes, fires, and smog have done little to deter wealthy buyers from California's mild weather and striking coastline, and the state's cities are technology and entertainment industry hubs. Nothing beats New York for cultural offerings and opportunities in the financial world, or Florida for miles of prime vacation land. Click here to read more.

Inland areas called key to state's future. Although often maligned as poor, ugly and polluted, the inland area, spanning 75,000 square miles, is the key to California's future. One in three Californians calls it home. Four of the nation's 10 fastest-growing cities - Riverside, Bakersfield and San Bernardino - are there.
High-priced real estate forced many families to flee coastal urban areas and pursue their dreams inland during the past decade. Inland California 'represents not so much a break with the California dream, but its new homeland, the state of opportunity for a new generation,' the study said. Sustaining the dream without ruining the environment or agriculture will determine if California remains competitive and a beacon for opportunity in the 21st century, experts say. The San Joaquin Valley already rivals Los Angeles for some of the smoggiest air in the country. 'When you get that many people and that much economic power inland, you better take a look at it and understand it because that's where the future of the state is,' said John Husing, president of Redlands-based Economics & Politics Inc., an economic research firm unconnected with the study. The report paints a portrait of a region at the crossroads. People move inland largely to find affordable housing in the Inland Empire, Central Valley and Sierra foothills. Click here to read more.



Foreclosures on the rise. Trend causing payments to balloon. Home foreclosures climbed in February across the Coachella Valley, up to 62 from just seven at the same time last year. Mortgage default notices jumped to 282 valleywide in February, up from 104 in February 2006, according to figures released by La Jolla-based real estate research firm DataQuick Information Systems. The numbers represent an upward trend in foreclosure activity that's likely to continue through 2007 and into 2008, as many overextended homeowners in the Coachella Valley, Inland Empire and beyond grapple with higher monthly mortgage payments as their adjustable-rate mortgages reset at higher interest rates, said economist Esmael Adibi, director of Chapman University's Anderson Center for Economic Research in Orange. Click here to read more.

A real estate video boom. Technique begins to stake a claim in cyberspace as sales marketing tool. Find your next home on YouTube. That's the latest promise of the phenomenally popular Internet video site and its brethren, where, in addition to viewing such cultural treasures as wedding bloopers and clips from The Simpsons, you can shop for real estate these days. From slick, cinematic productions touting waterfront castles to underlit, homemade tours of modest condos, real estate marketers are eyeing online video as the next way to capture that increasingly elusive creature, the homebuyer. 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