The Roundup: The Bad, The Good, The Inland Empire

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LOS ANGELES -- Wednesday’s top real estate story is a real punch in the gut if you are a realtor: The New York Times’ David Leonhardt writes that, in the current market, it makes more economic sense to rent than buy. Ouch. He picks on LA as particularly dicey for new buyers: ‘Over the next five years, which is about the average amount of time recent buyers have remained in their homes, prices in the Los Angeles area would have to rise more than 5 percent a year for a typical buyer there to do better than a renter.’

Closer to home, the LA Times reports, suprisingly, that Americans believe home prices are still rising, all evidence to the contrary. A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll finds, ‘Nearly a third of those polled predicted home values in their neighborhood would increase in the next six months. Only 16% anticipated a decrease. The rest said values would hold steady.’

The LATimes also notes that California ranks 14th in the nation for foreclosures per household last year -- one for every 86 households; the more relevant local headline in that story: Two California metro areas made the top 20 (that is, the bottom 20 -- those cities with the highest foreclosure rates). Stockton ranked 11th, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario ranked 13th.

Lastly, also in the not-so-good category, the largest homebuilder in the nation, D.H. Horton, says the spring selling season stinks and California’s weakening market is a big part of the problem.