June 2009

Woodland Hills Condos are Few and Far Between

I recently have been looking for a condominium in Woodland Hills for one of my buyers. Woodland Hills would be a perfect choice for my buyer, in view of her criteria: amenities, easy freeway access, close to the beach. Calabasas would be great, but the prices are a bit out of her price of her range. So we looked (and are still looking) and I have been amazed at how few suitable condos are on the market. A lot of condos that were built during the boom year have been converted to luxury apartments, greatly reducing the pool of available properties for someone looking for a condominium. (One Warner Center condo building — the Ascent — still stands uncompleted, a victim of a double whammy: fire + financial crisis).

The MLS data proves that the number of condos on the market has, in fact, been greatly reduced over the last two years — and of course, even fewer have been sold. Let’s hope that more condos are listed so prospective buyers will have some better choices. Maybe they will even finish the Ascent someday! In the meantime, if you have a well-kept 1400 sq. ft. 3 bedroom condo in Woodland Hills that you’d like to sell, I may have a buyer for you . . ..

If you would like to have updates of Woodland Hills real estate data like this emailed to you, you can contact me at (310) 866-9619 or send an inquiry from our contact page.

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Hipster Alert! Is Woodland Hills Destined to Become the Next Trendy Destination?

Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. But there are big changes planned for the West Valley that may well affect the desirability (and price) of homes in Woodland Hills and surrounding areas. On the almost-empty (save for a new Crate & Barrel) parcel of land that separates the Westfield Promenade and Westfield Topanga, megadeveloper the Westfield Group is planning to construct what may become the “Third Street Promenade” of the West Valley. In fact, the planned development (called The Village at Westfield Topanga) will look so much like the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, that Westfield used a photo of the actual Third Street Promenade in its marketing efforts: check out the fourth slide on http://westfield.com/thevillage/

Westfield’s information about the Village on its site is a bit sparse – it does not seem to have been significantly updated since 2007 – but the developer claims to be “exploring” “community amenities” for the Village including a “senior/community center, museum component with interactive educational programs for children, water features . . . public art displays, such as sculpture gardens, gourmet grocery store, and open air plaza.”
What does the planned Village development mean for the West Valley? Perhaps, finally, some nightlife of the non-enclosed mall variety, some more restaurants and a place to hang out during the warm Valley nights. Time will tell whether the actual development will be a plastic-y replicant of actual life (like the taste-challenged Universal Citywalk), or something with some character. Given the current state of the economy it may be some time before the Village is anything besides a dream on a piece of paper. But, if the Village development takes place as planned and it is well executed, it will add a sorely needed amenity to Woodland hills, and may well have a positive impact on the market value of surrounding areas.

Number of Woodland Hills Homes In Escrow up 55% over last year

It appears that home buyers have finally been coming out of the woodwork lately. Looking only at single family detached homes in Woodland Hills, the number of properties going into escrow has been leaping recently. The latest figures from SROAR comparing May 08 to May 09, show an increase of 55% of such homes going into escrow. I would not be surprised to see this trend continue, at least if the interest rates stay relatively low (and they still are, even after the latest uptick).

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Obama Administration Moves to Incentivize and Standardize Short Sales

Short sales are great, in theory. They can be a win-win-win situation – the seller gets rid of an unaffordable house; the buyer gets a great deal, and the bank avoids the costs and delay of another foreclosure and possible eviction. But, up until now, the short sales process has been somewhat of a mess. The lack of transparency and what often appear to be arbitrary bank decisions has turned the process into a deal killer. When it takes more than three months to even hear back on an offer, all but the most committed buyers have moved on down the road. Indeed, in many markets, a three-month-old offer is no longer close to the original market price, as a result of depreciation.

Fortunately, as part of a recent amendment to the Making Home Affordable Program, the Obama administration has instituted a new “Foreclosures Alternatives Program” designed to streamline and standardize the process by which banks agree to short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure. (A deed-in-lieu is an under-utilized arrangement in which the owner simply conveys title back to the bank in order to avoid a foreclosure.) Not only does the FAP offer some (admittedly rather minor) incentives to banks to permit short sales and deeds-in-lieu, but, according to NPR’s Morning Edition on June 2, 2009, the Obama administration intends to create “standards around the application and approval process” and publicize those standards within a month.

If it pans out, this will be great news for buyers, would-be short sellers, and the market as a whole (to say nothing of frustrated real estate agents!) It would be great if we could simply all agree to live by a set of fixed rules and reduce the uncertainty and transaction costs which have bogged down short sales and lead to unprecedented numbers of foreclosures. (Did you know that each foreclosure has been estimated to reduce the value of every property within an eighth of a mile by .9 percent? This usually equates to a couple of hundred thousand dollars in lost equity for the neighborhood. That isn’t good for anyone, least of all for the banks’ bloated REO inventory.)

First Time Homebuyer? Uncle Sam Now Wants to Make Your Down Payment For You.

Some things seem too good to be true, but you might be surprised. Recently, the planets have started to align in favor of the first time homebuyer. The combination of low prices in the San Fernando Valley, FHA-backed loans at 3.5% down, and the Federal Government’s first time homebuyers’ tax credit (up to $8,000), means that Uncle Sam is quite literally willing to pony up for you to “buy” a house if you close before December 2009. Better yet, recently announced rule changes mean that even if you don’t want to (or can’t) pay any down payment out of your own pocket, the tax credit means that the Federal Government is willing to pay for the entire down payment on a property costing up to approximately $225,000, provided you get a FHA-backed loan. (Do the math yourself.) As the Wall Street Journal’s online edition reported on May 29, 2008:

“The policy change means home buyers, who use FHA-backed financing, can get a short-term loan to help buy a home. The loan is repaid a few months later, after the buyer files an amended tax return and receives the credit.”

The government’s rather heroic attempt to pump a bit of air into the deflating housing bubble appears to be having a major influence on first time homebuyers. I’ve heard of parents buying properties for their college students to take advantage of the tax credit. Perhaps you should ask yourself: Do I want Uncle Sam to make my down payment?