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He thinks by looking at L.A. County you can tell what is going on with the rest of the state.
In thinks LA is a good sample of what is going on at the state level and the data is more updated for LA than it is for the state level therefore he is using LA as a sample instead of looking at state level data.
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I on the otherhand look at this as useless information for someone wanting to buy or sell a home.
Are you seriously claiming that knowing national and state level data is useless for someone wanting to buy or sell a home? I mean seriously? Real estate is only local to a degree...ignoring what is going on at the state and national level is just as problematic as ignoring local data.
Regardless, so you refused to read an article because it was analyzing real estate at the state level? Hmm......okay.
He thinks by looking at L.A. County you can tell what is going on with the rest of the state.
In thinks LA is a good sample of what is going on at the state level and the data is more updated for LA than it is for the state level therefore he is using LA as a sample instead of looking at state level data.
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I on the otherhand look at this as useless information for someone wanting to buy or sell a home.
Are you seriously claiming that knowing national and state level data is useless for someone wanting to buy or sell a home? I mean seriously? Real estate is only local to a degree...ignoring what is going on at the state and national level is just as problematic as ignoring local data.
Regardless, so you refused to read an article because it was analyzing real estate at the state level? Hmm......okay.
In thinks LA is a good sample of what is going on at the state level and the data is more updated for LA than it is for the state level therefore he is using LA as a sample instead of looking at state level data.
Are you seriously claiming that knowing national and state level data is useless for someone wanting to buy or sell a home? I mean seriously? Real estate is only local to a degree...ignoring what is going on at the state and national level is just as problematic as ignoring local data.
Regardless, so you refused to read an article because it was analyzing real estate at the state level? Hmm......okay.
Yes, I am serious. It most certainly will not tell you what is going on in a local market.
There were some areas that were insulated from the huge price spikes that are now insulated from the price drops.
If you look at those areas they would not resemble anything like the national averages or state averages so what does looking at those averages tell you? Absolutely nothing.
And yes I refused to read any further in the article because just from reading the one statement I could tell it was utterly useless to go on.
I know from having friends there that the LA market has risen astronomically in the last few years, but isn't that market also holding up well? Especially in the West LA (Brentwood, Beverly Hills, Westwood) areas?
We are very concerned about this market since some of our friends bought in the last 2 years. What advice would you have for them? They are planning to live there for decades so they can just ride it out, but it has to be very stressful. Some are considering just selling now, even at a loss, to avoid further loss. They are all young families, so even though they plan to stay there for 10+ years, something could come up (job transfer, etc) in 2, 3 years that would require them to move. All of these scenarios are really stressing them out. They moved to LA during the housing bubble from other areas, so I don't think it occured to many that LA housing, especially the higher end market (higher for US, but I guess 1.5M - 2.5M isn't considered way high out there), could go down in value. I know it sounds ludicrous right now, but I would like to tell them something constructive rather than just saying "should've known better ...", which doesn't help any.
Does anyone have expertise in these areas?
Sorry to get so off topic. Just very worried about what's going on out in LA.
I read the article before reading the comments and I think it's fair to say that a lot of posters wrote comments without reading the article. I think, for a lot of people, there's a knee-jerk reaction to anything that doesn't paint a rosy picture. But, articles like this are important to people who are trying to make decisions about whether to buy a house, and/or which one to buy.
Of course, maybe that's why you're objecting to the article.
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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I read the entire article and browsed through the rest of the website. The numbers in LA county mean nothing to me and don't describe my market at all.
I thought this was a great, informative article. Some of you are possibly taking the numbers too literally, but this article reflects the overall sentiment of the housing market, imo.
Yes, I am serious. It most certainly will not tell you what is going on in a local market.
Really, so national and state level housing trends will not tell you anything about a local market? Nothing at all? This is pretty absurd. No "local market" is in a void and will be effect by what happens not only in other cities in the same state but also other cities in the same country. The reason is simple, peoples will always make substitutes if the price is right. Knowing what is going on at the state and national level is important as it can indicate future directions in your "local market".
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And yes I refused to read any further in the article because just from reading the one statement I could tell it was utterly useless to go on.
And why was it useless to go on? Because it wasn't about your local area? The only reason it would be "useless to go on" is if you had no interest in the housing market above and beyond your "local market".
I know from having friends there that the LA market has risen astronomically in the last few years, but isn't that market also holding up well? Especially in the West LA (Brentwood, Beverly Hills, Westwood) areas?
We are very concerned about this market since some of our friends bought in the last 2 years. What advice would you have for them? They are planning to live there for decades so they can just ride it out, but it has to be very stressful. Some are considering just selling now, even at a loss, to avoid further loss. They are all young families, so even though they plan to stay there for 10+ years, something could come up (job transfer, etc) in 2, 3 years that would require them to move. All of these scenarios are really stressing them out. They moved to LA during the housing bubble from other areas, so I don't think it occured to many that LA housing, especially the higher end market (higher for US, but I guess 1.5M - 2.5M isn't considered way high out there), could go down in value. I know it sounds ludicrous right now, but I would like to tell them something constructive rather than just saying "should've known better ...", which doesn't help any.
Does anyone have expertise in these areas?
Sorry to get so off topic. Just very worried about what's going on out in LA.
Hi Mom2TwoBoys,
It's nice to see that you are concerned over your friends in LA and how we're doing out here. In the most part, there's really no point to worry too much if they can afford their payments, like their home, and plan to be living there 10+ years.
To reduce financial stress, I'd advise to increase their savings toward an emergency fund of at least 6 months of living expenses. Everybody should try to save up a few months for a rainy day fund so they wouldn't have to worry as much about the "something" coming up.
There's also really nothing we can do about median prices going down as it will have to play its' course over time. Eventually things will stabilize and eventually normal appreciation/inflation will show nominal growth.
Meanwhile, my neighbors and I have resolved to make our houses and neighborhood more than just a place to live, but a home and community.
We've decided to try to strengthen our community through neighborhood awareness and community ties. Recently we had a large neighborhood pot luck block party where we bar-b-qued, had games for the kids, and raffles and prizes. Our community HOA association has concerts at the park, wine tasting events, movie nights, casino nights, and other community events. Our city and municipalities also offers movie nights, outdoor concerts, and farmer's market where we can continue to build ties.
So, the general idea is to get back to basics, building relationships, spending time with family, pool money for parties and go to inexpensive/free events... and before you know it... this period in time will pass and you'd fine some extra change in your pocket from not going "out" and staying in your community.
As a consequence, building up the community will enhance its' non-monetary value and keep people there. Just applying a little effort to get to know your neighbors and building up relationships should return dividends in return.
In the most part, there's really no point to worry too much if they can afford their payments, like their home, and plan to be living there 10+ years.
I think this line is way over used. Nothing to worry about? They just grossly over paid for one of the most expensive purchases in their life. Furthermore, if they had a low down payment they will more than likely still be underwater in 10 years. Of course at some point you have to live with your mistakes, but to pretend its no big deal etc is odd.
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