The Santa Monica City Council has rejected a proposal for council members to disclose on whether a developer has contributed to their campaign before they are able to participate in a major decision that affects the developer. Click on the link below for the full article.
City Council rejects disclosure proposal after some debate
It’s my firm belief that the Federal Housing Authority has extended the suspension of the “anti-flipping” rule to boost sales of foreclosures. Would love to hear your opinions on the latest ruling. The link to the article is…
FHA extends suspension of ‘anti-flipping’ rule for another year.
The Santa Monica real estate market has been very active this year because of the record low rates. As of today there have been 218 single family homes that have sold with a median price of $1.5M comparing to last years total sales of 190 homes with a median price of $1.625. We have seen a drop in price of about 7% from last year but an increase in volume. There are currently 94 homes on the market and about 37 homes in escrow or under contract which tells us of a very active market. The median asking price range is at $1.6M.
I am seeing that the condo market this year will surpass the figure of 373 condos that sold last year. As of to date, there are already 323 condos sold with another 64 condos under contract. The median price this year is at $660,000 and has not changed much from last years $665,000.
What I am experiencing in this market is that the only properties that move are the ones that the public and brokerage community perceive to be of a great value. It has to be positioned well that they think that if they do not make a move on it today, that it will not be there tomorrow.
Mortgage rates headed down again, after lingering at a record low for two weeks. The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 5 basis points this week, to 4.45%, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. In the 25-year history of Bankrate’s weekly survey, the 30-year fixed has never been lower. According to statistics compiled by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the last time mortgage rates were below 4.5% was in April 1953.
Source: Record-Low Rates Slide Further