June sales trends for Northeast LA

The diverse communities ofNortheast LAhave a wide range of prices from the mid $100,000 price range to 1.5 million.  This report covers the zip codes of 90026 (Echo Park), 90039 (Atwater Village), 90041 (Eagle Rock), 90042 (Highland Park) and 90065 (Mount Washington). Single Family: May / June

• Properties sold: 99 / 121
• Average days on market: 81 / 62
• Median price: $435,000 / $479,900
• Average cost per square foot: $299 / $323
• Average selling price to listing price: 98% / 100%

Residential Income (2-4 units):  May / June

• Properties sold: 21 / 32
• Median price:  $391,000 / $409,500

Condo:  May / June

• Properties sold: 10 / 9
• Median Price: $234,000 / $310,000

California hoping for housing recovery with Homeowner Bill of Rights passage

With the real estate market still trying to recover, the state of California wants to make sure families are staying in their homes. Lawmakers are expected to approve the California Homeowner Bill of Rights (or SB 900), which is aimed at giving homeowners fair treatment if they want to try and stay in their homes. The LA Times outlines the bill's provisions in three key areas:

One such provision would require mortgage loan servicers to give their borrowers a single point of contact instead of bouncing them around from office to office.

A second would limit banks' ability to begin a foreclosure process if the borrowers have filed documents requesting a loan modification that would lower their monthly payments.

A third would give homeowners the ability to sue servicers, under certain restrictions, alleging that they were wrongly foreclosed upon.

Passage by the committee is expected next week.

The number of foreclosures in the Northeast Los Angeles real estate market have slowed, as with many averages across the US, but that may be due to a lag in the foreclosure paperwork by lenders. Some expect the market to remain down through next year.

Echo Park "Ark House" featured in LA Times Magazine

echo-park_Millar

Echo Park is known for its historical architecture as it is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles. But popping up amongst the 1920s California bungalows and the occasional craftsman homes are a few brand new, ultra-modern styles that are defining modern Echo Park architecture.

The Los Angeles Times Magazine recently took notice on one such structure in an article that raved about the home's design, calling it "smart, flexible design solutions that raise the bar on the indoor-outdoor connection so essential to life in Southern California."

Located on Lake Shore in Echo Park, the Ark House is an unusual site. Acclaimed for its adaptability in any season, the floor-to-ceiling sliding glass "windows" have corrugated metal screens for temperature regulation, and are removed in winter. The rest of the concrete structure is three stories, the third of which is a beautiful rooftop garden with views of Echo Park, Downtown Los Angeles, and beyond.

Norman Millar, the architect who acquired the property in 1989, started the project in 2006 and completed it in 2010. It's been a part of may Los Angles home tours, including the 2011 Dwell on Design tours.

echo-park_Millar2

echo-park_Millar3

Low inventory in the Northeast Los Angeles market

House for sale

A recent edition of the Sunday Los Angeles Times featured a real estate article on the struggles of homebuyers in Echo Park, Highland Park, and other Northeast Los Angeles neighborhoods to find and get a home because of low inventory and lots of competition in the lower- to medium-range priced homes.

The article quotes Echo Park resident David Dennick on his frustration, saying: "It is much more competitive than we thought. It is just frustrating because we thought we would really be able to buy a house; we are a middle-class family."

The article reports Redfin's numbers for the month of April - homes listed for sale fell 35% in Los Angeles County.

There are both good and bad sides to the story: The good thing is that sellers aren't having much trouble selling; the bad is that there's just not enough inventory for buyers in the area. Add to that the problem with undervalued appraisals by lenders - even in the case of a bidding war, if the home is appraised lower than the price paid, there will be problems with financing.

My advice is to make sure you have a good lender, and in more than a decade I've never had a single issue with appraisals.

Los Angeles City Council approves charging banks fees on foreclosed homes

The Los Angeles City Council voted on Wednesday to approve an inspection fee placed on banks when filing for a foreclosed home. The fee is aimed at ensuring the banks don't leave foreclosed homes empty and unkempt, particularly targeted at the large number of foreclosed homes in south Los Angeles neighborhoods that have been left without any upkeep. It's overall objective is to avoid neighborhood blight and stabilize neighborhoods.

Though the fee amount has yet to be determined, it could be around $400 per property to register a property with the city, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. The money will be used to pay inspectors who will be making sure the homes are kept up. This will be in addition to the $155 federal registration fee paid by banks, and face a $1,000 a day fine for unkempt homes.

Councilman Eric Garcetti of Council District 1 (which includes Echo Park) has vocally encouraged enforcement of keeping up foreclosed homes: "How can property values fully rebound when our neighborhoods are strewn with foreclosed properties that the banks have allowed to become magnets for trash, vermin and crime?" Garcetti said.

The City of Los Angeles already has a Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which uses government funds to hire workers for rehabilitating foreclosed properties in communities impacted by the housing crisis.  The question is then - if the city has already money ($143 million to be exact) going into work on empty foreclosed properties, does there really need to be more money give to the City?

Foreclosure crisis turning real estate market into one of renters

Numbers released by Moody's Analytics say people are deciding on renting homes instead of buying them, and it looks like it's due to the obvious income issues (per capita income is growing incredibly slow) and all things related to the foreclosure crisis. About a third of people surveyed aren't taking the plunge to purchase a home because of the downpayment money required. People are also weary of the stability of the market in the future. So instead, they are renting.

The demand for renting instead of purchasing homes is also attributed to the large number of the younger demographic choosing to rent - the Census Bureau says that 77 percent of those under 24, and 65 percent of the 25-29 age group are renting.

Additionally, new construction of multi-unit homes is growing faster than single family units, and even lenders like Fannie Mac are turning bank-owned properties into rentals.

Average rental rates in Los Angeles have been up since December 2011, and the median price of renting a two bedroom home in Echo Park is $2,019 according to Rentbits.com.

Sunday Open House: 2007 Lake Shore, Echo Park

front-view-p405515

This listing in Echo Park is a unique opportunity - not only is it nice and big (three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms), the back yard is quite large and tucked up against a hill. This is our third listing on Lake Shore, and it's such a fantastic street to live on Echo Park that we expect this property to sell fast. Click here for the photo gallery and location.

Come see it for yourself - our open house takes place on Sunday, June 10, 2012 from 2-5:00 pm.