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A Tale of Two Cities: The Divergent Fortunes of High and Low End Properties in the Greater Los Angeles Area

From my perspective, many cheaper houses in close-in, desirable San Fernando Valley neighborhoods have reached a price point where they make sense to purchase as flips, long-term investments, or shelter, when viewed in relation to market rents. The higher-priced properties, in contrast, are still selling for an extraordinary multiple of their rents. In addition, the spread on interest rates between conforming and jumbo has been out of whack ever since the beginning of the financial crisis, as the secondary market shunned anything that was not Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac backed (and, as transpired, ultimately backed by us, the taxpayers.) Thus, it seems like this recovery will be a “tale of two markets”: sales are brisk a the low end, but the jury is still out on what will happen to the higher priced markets. Is Malibu REO an oxymoron? Not anymore, it seems.