Buying beats renting in most U.S. cities

August 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Les Christie @CNNMoney August 2, 2012: 11:10 AM

Buying a home in most major markets will end up being cheaper than renting one.
Buying a home in most major markets will end up being cheaper than renting one.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — For people who are willing to stay put for a few years, buying a home has become a much better deal than renting in almost every major housing market in the nation.

In more than 75% of the 200 metro areas analyzed by real estate listing web site Zillow, homeowners would reach a “breakeven point” – where owning the home makes better financial sense than renting it — in three years or less.

“Historic levels of affordability make buying a home a better decision than ever, especially considering rents have risen more than 5% over the past year,” said Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow.

The survey was Zillow’s first buy-versus-rent analysis, incorporating all homeownership costs, including down payments, closing costs, mortgage payments, property taxes, utilities and maintenance costs, and compared them to rental costs. It also took into account projected home price appreciation and rent increases, as well as tax deductions and inflation.

Zillow’s findings support other reports that show that rising rents, record-low mortgage rates and falling home prices have made homeownership a more attractive option.

In some of the metro areas Zillow looked at, home buyers would break even in less than two years.

In Miami, for example, a homebuyer would only have to stay in their home for about 1.6 years for the purchase to pay off, Zillow said.

Homes in the metro area are selling for about 45% less than they were five years ago. Meanwhile, over the past three years, rents have climbed 20%, according to RentJungle.

Miami’s metro area, along with Tampa, Fla., Memphis, Tenn., and several smaller cities, have the shortest break-even times of the markets Zillow analyzed.

Renters still have the upper hand in some cities. It would take home buyers in San Jose, Calif., 8.3 years to break even on their homes — the longest period of time of any of the metro areas Zillow surveyed. Other big cities where buying was not such a good a deal were Honolulu, at a six-year break-even point, and San Francisco at 5.9 years. To top of page

Buy vs. rent in 30 major cities
City State Breakeven time in years
New York N.Y. 5.1
Los Angeles Calif. 4.3
Chicago Ill. 2.8
Dallas Texas 2.1
Philadelphia Pa. 3
Washington D.C. 3.5
Miami Fla. 1.6
Atlanta Ga. 2.5
Boston Mass. 4.3
San Francisco Calif. 5.9
Detroit Mich. 1.7
Riverside Calif. 2
Phoenix Ariz 1.7
Seattle Wash. 4
Minneapolis Minn. 2.7
San Diego Calif. 3.6
Tampa Fla. 1.6
St. Louis Mo. 2.5
Baltimore Md. 2.8
Denver Colo. 2.5
Pittsburgh Pa. 2.1
Portland Ore. 3.5
Sacramento Calif. 3.1
Orlando Fla. 1.7
Cincinnati Ohio 2.1
Cleveland Ohio 2.4
Las Vegas Nev. 1.7
San Jose Calif. 8.3
Columbus Ohio 2.4
Charlotte N.C. 2.7
Source: Zillow

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How the West is winning on home prices: Clear Capital

July 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
REAL ESTATE
How the West is winning on home prices: Clear Capital
By Jessica Huseman

• July 10, 2012 • 8:14am

Quarterly home values in June improved nationally, continuing a positive trend from the spring. National prices rebounded with quarterly and yearly gains of 1.7%, according to Clear Capital, which forecast continued growth through the remainder of the year.

National home prices picked up notable momentum over last month’s marginal gains of 0.1%, the Trukee, Calif.-based data and valuation company said. It predicted additional growth of 2.5% forecasted through the end of the year.

“June home price trends provided further evidence that housing has turned the corner, with the momentum of the recovery picking up speed,” said  Alex Villacorta, director of research and analytics at Clear Capital.

Clear Capital uses a rolling quarter measure, which compares the most recent four months to the previous three months. The rolling quarters have no fixed start date and can be used to generate indices as data flows in to reduce multimonth lag time.

The West came in with the highest gains, showing quarter-over-quarter growth of 3.5% — an increase of 0.8% over May and annual price gains of 4.1%. Clear Capital expects the trend to continue through 2012 with an additional 5.75% growth over the next two quarters.

While the recovery generally began in the lower-priced segments, growth spread across all price tiers in the West, which the report calls an “important step in the progression of this recovery.”

In the quarter, low-tier gains in the West hit 3.6% (sales less than $140,000), mid-tier gains reached 3.1% (homes selling between $140,000 and $347,000) and top-tier gains climbed to 3.2%. This led the West to push ahead of the South, the next closest region, by 2%.

The South continued to grow in June, pushing up 1.5% over the rolling quarter, slightly above May’s 1.2% gain.

The Midwest saw the largest increase over last month in quarterly home prices, rising 1.2% compared to May’s quarterly losses of 2%. It was the only region not posting year-over-year gains, with a loss of 0.6%.

Home prices in the Northeast rose 2.3% over the last year. The South experienced a smaller price hike of 1.5% over the last year and during the quarter, an improvement over the annual growth of 0.9% shown in last month’s report.

The top 50 metro markets also posted gains in June, with the large majority of markets seeing quarterly gains and only seven seeing slides. Of those markets that posted losses, only four saw declines larger than 1%.

The report indicates more good news out of Phoenix, which has been showing consistent signs of strength for the past 10 months. Clear Capital reported quarterly growth of 8.7% in Phoenix with annual gains of 20.4%.

Seattle, where prices rose 8.4% over the quarter, could see prices rise 14.4% annually once final numbers of 2012 are in, while Phoenix prices could rise by 10.4% annually.

Atlanta is not positioned to do as well. It sustained the largest declines of all the MSAs. However, the anticipated losses of 3.2% seem mild in comparison to Atlanta’s total declines of 53.5% from peak prices in 2006.

jhuseman@housingwire.com
@JessicaHuseman

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Seniors Graduate La Salle High

May 31, 2012 By 1 Comment

It went by so fast! La Salle High School graduated 195 seniors Friday.

Lancers enter the Church of Nazarene for graduation ceremonies. Credit John Blackstock

Photos

Lancers enter the Church of Nazarene for graduation ceremonies.Katrina Dela Cruz delivers the Commencement Address at La Salle High School's graduation ceremony. Meaghan Allen delivers the Welcome Address for La Salle High School's 2012 Commencement. Meaghan Allen delivers the Welcome Address for La Salle High School's 2012 Commencement.

La Salle High School graduated 195 seniors at its 53rd Commencement on Friday evening. Commencement exercises took place at the Church of the Nazarene, next-door to the school.

Sheyda G. Pejoumand received the La Salle High School General Excellence Award and will attend the University of California, Berkeley in the fall. Pejoumand also received the Excellence Award for Spanish.

The General Merit Award went to George J. Pearman who will also attend the University of California, Berkeley.

Claire C. McCarthy and Mathew Godshall received the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Christian Service Award.

Chelsee J. Grover-Odom was selected by her senior class peers to receive the Pro Deo et Patria Award.

The De La Salle Service Award went to Vincent Delgatto and Manuel M. Sariano. Francisco Luna and Arolyn D. Basham received the Brother Celestine All Around Athlete Award.

Meaghan E. Allen, who lives in Sierra Madre gave the Welcome Address and Katrina A. Dela Cruz was chosen by the Faculty Commencement Committee for the honor of delivering the Commencement Address.

Every member of La Salle’s graduating class will attend college or post graduate academies next year, and 91-percent of the class will matriculate to four-year institutions.

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Locals go 4 for 4 at Masters

May 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Locals go 4 for 4 at Masters

Track and Field: Kieffer-Wright, Ezold, Crear and De La Torre all move on.

La Salle's Daniel De La Torre qualified for the CIF State Meet in the the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.Friday.La Salle’s Daniel De La Torre qualified for the CIF State Meet in the the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.Friday. (Raul Roa/Staff Photographer / May 25, 2012)
By Andrew J. Campa, andrew.campa@latimes.comMay 25, 2012| 10:55 p.m.

NORWALK — Perhaps the qualifying standards were too simple, or maybe the Pasadena area’s track and field athletes are hitting their strides at the right moment.

Whatever the reason, there was little doubt Friday evening’s CIF Southern Section Masters Meet was a wild success as all four local competitors — La Salle High’s Daniel De La Torre, Maranatha’s Ebony Crear, San Marino’s Kyle Ezold and South Pasadena’s Claire Kieffer-Wright – qualified to the following weekend’s CIF-State Meet in Clovis.

The ever-hungry De La Torre turned in the most impressive effort as he was the only area athlete to qualify in two events: the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.

“I know I should be happy, but I really thought I’d do better than my times today,” De La Torre said. “I guess the goal was to advance and I did that. The best thing is that I have one more week to run my best race.”

Like every athlete who competed Friday, De La Torre needed to either finish in the top five in his respective event or hit a state at-large qualifying mark.

In the 3,200, De La Torre moved from fifth after four laps to third with a lap remaining before settling for fourth in 9 minutes, 06.13 seconds.

De La Torre began the day by racing out to third place through the first three laps of the 1,600 before tiring and finishing sixth with a qualifying mark of 4:12.84.

“My muscles were tightening up and I just didn’t feel my strongest today,” De La Torre said, “but I guess it could have been worse.”

Like De La Torre, Crear also hoped to advance in two events, but wasn’t as fortunate, as the sophomore qualified in the 100-meter dash, but just missed out in the 300 hurdles.

Crear, who was sixth after 40 meters, rallied into fourth (14.09) in the 100 hurdles, but fell from fifth to seventh over the final 20 meters of the 300 hurdles as her time of 44.29 missed the at-large mark of 43.75.

“I’m a little disappointed, but this is all a learning experience,” Crear said. “My goal was to make it to state and I did that, so that’s cool.”

San Marino multi-sport athlete Ezold entered Friday’s 400-meter dash having finished second in the Division III championships last weekend and seventh overall with a mark of 48.12, well ahead of the at-large time of 48.65.

Yet, Ezold needed no at-large mark, as he finished fourth in 48.60.

“I worked on my form this week and on finishing,” Ezold said. “I kept a faster pace than last week and finished hard.”

As for the area’s close call, that came from Kieffer-Wright in the high jump.

The sophomore needed two turns to hit 5 feet 3 inches before eventually landing on the state qualifying mark of 5-5 on her third try at that height, which tied her for seventh.

“I’ve never really jumped when it was this windy before, but I know it affected everyone,” Kieffer-Wright said. “When it came around to 5-5 and I missed on my first two attempts, I can’t lie, I was really nervous. I was telling myself, ‘This is it.’“

Friday also marked the end of the road for two Pasadena residents as Loyola 3,200-meter runner Charles Marquardt (ninth, 9:20.38) and Cubs’ junior Josh Lewis, who finished seventh in the 800 (1:54.37), did not advance to state.

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May 2012 Market Report/Pasadena California

May 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

May 2012 Market Report/Pasadena California. For a Market Report in your area please contact me and just say “Market Report …(insert city)” @ BrettanyHarrison@me.com

April property sales were 28, up 33.3% from 21 in April of 2011 and – 17.6% lower than the 34 sales last month.

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Fundraisers are in Bloom/Courtesy Mention Brettany Harrison

May 14, 2012 By 1 Comment

Around Town: The fundraisers are in bloom

By Anita S. BrennerApril 21, 2012 | 6:13 p.m.

Spring is here and the fundraisers are blooming.

In a down economy, we must be creative.

Last Sunday, we attended the most creative Hillsides Guild “Day at the Races.”

The Hillsides Guild supports the Hillsides center, which began in 1913 as an Episcopal orphanage. Today, Hillsides is a private, nonprofit children’s foster care and treatment center, with a focus on counseling and mental health.

Hillsides’ “Day at the Races” is the brainchild of La Cañadan Dee Fisher. Dee is a fellow member of the Thursday Club.

Each year, Dee rallies the guild members, assorted husbands and others. I’m not a member of the guild, but we always support Dee’s events, which, like their organizer, are a charming amalgam of fundraising, friend-raising and elegance.

This year, Dee partnered with an energetic co-chair named Astrid Fishbein. Their aides de camp, who each made mass purchases of raffle tickets, were Dee’s husband, a local viticulturist named Mark Martinez, and Astrid’s husband, a man of many talents named Michael Fishbein.

Martinez explained, “I started coming six years ago, when I first met Dee, and now I’m hooked. This is a wonderful cause. The guild is an all-volunteer organization. Their efforts allow the kids to have extra activities, like the annual picnic or a bowling night. These ladies are wonderful.”

The raffle baskets were assembled by La Cañadan Aline Kuhnle, who attended with her husband, Paul.

“This is the most fun we’ve had all year,” exclaimed Kuhnle.

At Santa Anita Racetrack, the mountains are gorgeous, the food is good and within minutes of arrival, even if you are a teetotaler, you totally mellow out.

Except for mixing up a trifecta with a trifecta box, this year I almost won a lot of money. Plus, there was a lot of chocolate, courtesy of Brettany Harrison, a charming young broker from Coldwell Banker.

Meanwhile, over at Flintridge Prep, the parents are beginning to gear up for the annual Flintridge Prep Parents and Alumni Golf Tournament and Dinner, scheduled for April 30 at the La Cañada Flintridge Country Club. Kudos to Randy Dreyfuss for making our town’s only golf course available for so many charity events.

Prep now has a gender-neutral parents association. Back in the day we had the Mother’s Club that did all the work, and the Father’s Club, which had one guy who did all the work and other guys who watched.

The Flintridge Prep Father’s Club Blanket Sale was one of the most successful and price-variable development schemes in the history of any local school. The La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation should take note.

By the time this Valley Sun arrives on your doorstep, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Disco Divas of the ’80s will be arriving home from the 2012 Gala, held on Saturday at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena.

The online auction includes a decrepit wheelbarrow aptly named, the Wheelbarrow of Booze. “Bring home this red wheelbarrow and your bar will be stocked for your next party, and much more,” read the description. The Wheelbarrow of Booze was valued at more than $1,000.

Now, that’s creative.

ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Email her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com and follow her on Twitter @anitabrenner.

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