Share Link: 
Article courtesy of L.A. Focus.
For more stories, visit L.A. Focus online.
Residents of the pricey Ladera Heights community were more than surprised to wake up and find that a two-bedroom, 1800-square foot home with a den was being sold for $589,000 just around the corner. A sweet deal for the upscale black neighborhood with houses that normally sell in the range of $800,000 to $1.5 million, particularly with a new roof.
In Windsor Hills, a three-bedroom, two-bath house was on the market for just $390,000 and in View Park, a bank-owned three bedroom and two bath home was selling for $449,000.
Those are just some of the numbers that reflect the dramatic downward slide of home mortgage prices in L.A.'s upscale black communities as nationwide home prices continue to drop and Los Angeles experiences a 24% decline according to the latest housing indexes.
"I’ve been in the business 20 years and this is the lowest I’ve seen them," said Gwen Troy of Sotheby's Realtors. "I showed a house today that was priced at $550,000. It would normally be selling for over $650,000. It’s definitely a buyers market."
And while home sales were $259 million during the first three months of 2009, down from $399.6 million a year earlier, interest is building.
"Business starting picking up mid-March with the latest interest cut from the Feds and there are a lot of good buys," reports Janet Singleton of Coldwell Banker's Marina Del Rey offices. "I'm seeing multiple offers on the same properties."
What's driving the market are short sales (bank-owned properties) and foreclosures, even though the Obama administration is stepping up it's efforts to stem foreclosures, offering lenders and homeowners incentives to cut payments on second mortgages to as low as 1% for five years, write down balances on at risk first mortgages, and monetary incentives to get homeowners to repay loans on time.
Just three years ago, prices in L.A.'s black community—had, like everywhere else—soared. A two bedroom and one bath on East 93rd sold for $375,000. A three-bedroom, one bath, house went for $340,000 on 105th & Zamora in Watts, and a three-bed, two and a half bath home in Compton, for $327,000.
Last month, a comparable house in South Los Angeles, now bank-owned was being sold for $88,000. It reportedly drew 16 offers, many of which were cash.
"A recent foreclosure in Ladera sold for $805,000, 30% less than the $1.1 million the owners paid in June of 2007. There were 12 -plus offers on the house," said Singleton, who specializes in properties in Ladera Heights, View Park and Windsor Hills.
"Then too," Troy adds, "there are more investors buying and putting it back on the market. They can get more now because houses are much more cheaper for investors, and in some cases instead of flipping them, they’re holding onto them for later and renting them out for now."
Sales, however, have been tempered with caution as lenders look for stronger credit scores, documented income and more money down—with the exception of the FHA loans, which allow for a 3.5% down payment.
"It's much harder now to get a loan," said Marilyn Carson of CalFunding Corporation. "You must have clean credit and stable employment. There are no B-credit loans and investor loans are by far, the most difficult to get."
Still, Singleton cautions that those looking to wait the market out for the perfect deal might want to rethink their strategy.
"With every passing day, there's less inventory, more buyers and they're going to have to spend more money," said Singleton. "Sales are brisk so they need to get moving. By the time they get in the market, prices are going to be going back up."
| < Prev |
|---|
