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FULL COVERAGE: SOUTHLAND HOUSING MARKET
Recent coverage of the current Southern California housing market and related issues.
REAL ESTATE
S & P/Case-Shiller index shows a decline of 18% in April from a year earlier. The January year-to-year drop was 19%. In the L.A. area, prices fell 21% from April to April; the January drop was 25%.
Yet challenging conditions are still ahead for the nation's home builders, Jeffrey Mezger says. The company reports a narrower second-quarter loss of $78.4 million and a 40% drop in revenue.
From April to May, the national rate was down less than 1%. New-home sales in the West rose slightly from April, by 1.3%.
REAL ESTATE
Last month was better than April, as usual, but sales nationwide fell 3.6% from a year earlier, despite low prices and tax incentives. The West bucks the trend with an 8.7% increase.
Existing home sales in the U.S. rose in May for a second month as record foreclosures caused prices to drop.
The Dow sheds 16 points, while the S & P 500 index edges up in a relatively quiet session as investors await word from the Fed on interest rates.
The median price jumps for a second month in a row. Overall sales are up for a ninth consecutive month.
REAL ESTATE
The median price was $249,000, which is up less than 1% from $247,000 in April. It was the first month-to-month gain since July 2007.
WALL STREET
Investors are demanding higher yields on long-term Treasury notes, and that in turn is pushing up mortgage rates.
Opinion
Despite the shaky economy, resales have been booming. That may be a sign that basic economics is working to stabilize the market.
The charity was founded by a scandal-ridden Los Angeles chapter of the Service Employees International Union. Its stated aim was to provide housing to low-income workers.
Blowback
Everyone in Glassell Park -- gang members included -- deserves a better community, not just those who fled high home prices in West L.A.
From Santa Barbara to Orange County, hundreds of homes burn and thousands of people are evacuated. A mobile home park in Sylmar appears to lose the highest number of housing units in L.A. history.
TRENDS
Homes by Lautner, Neutra aren't fetching the prices they once brought.
Editorial
Bullet trains, children's healthcare and veterans' housing all deserve support.
Two government lots were sold for $1 each to a housing corporation that lacked the tax-exempt status it claimed. The group was founded under the direction of Tyrone Freeman, head of the local.
THE SCOUT
The home furnishings designer will close its La Brea store to focus on Web sales. Look for large markdowns.
OUT THERE
In the inland city, sold as a sort of Napa of Southern California, as many as 15% of the 22,500 single-family homes may be bank-owned or in some stage of foreclosure.
Conquest Student Housing agrees to stop challenging rival developers' plans to build within two miles of the university's main campus.
THE BIG FIX
Southland house prices have risen past sustainable levels for most homeowners.
MORTGAGE MELTDOWN
Though the city in theory stands to benefit from Bush's mortgage relief plan, agents and homeowners say it may be too little too late.
THE ECONOMY
The White House's move to deal with the growing foreclosure rate comes amid concerns about the '08 elections.
LOANS
The mortgage lender is subpoenaed over charges to homeowners in bankruptcy.
Local prices of single-family homes fell 7% in September from a year earlier. San Diego had the third-biggest drop, at 9.6%, about double the average in a survey of 20 metro areas.
Eric S. Broida wants to trade up. He has been eyeing a multimillion-dollar house near his Pacific Palisades home and thinks it might be a bargain. Eventually, that is.
Those at the San Diego event urge more help for mortgage borrowers at risk of foreclosure.
Programs help low- and moderate-income buyers finally get in the door.
Southland purchases in September fall nearly 50% from a year earlier. Prices drop overall, but L.A. County's rise 1.2%.
REAL ESTATE
Discounted new homes and foreclosures sink sales of existing houses.
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NEIGHBORHOOD PAGES
Click on the cities and neighborhoods below for descriptions of life in these Los Angeles areas.
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| - | Retailers report weak June sales |
| - | Broadcom drops hostile bid for Emulex |
| - | L.A. County property value drops for first time in 13 years |