L.A.’s most fanciful mansion? Check out Marmont Manor

By Lauren Beale- May 7, 2013, 12:04 p.m.

Whimsical Marmont Manor in the Hollywood Hills, which recently came on the market at $24.5 million, may not be everyone’s cup of English breakfast tea – but it takes the cake (or crumpet) for being eye-catching.

The gated English Country-style compound includes a 1937 main house with guest annex, a caretaker’s cottage,  an artist’s studio,  a three-level building with a den, gym and wine cellar, an aviary, a tennis court, a swimming pool, gardens, a swan lake and more than 300 mature pine trees.

A pool/tennis pavilion features separate men’s and women’s bathrooms and a restaurant-style kitchen with a teppanyaki station, a sushi bar, a barbecue and a wok station.

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There are 14 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms in 20,000 square feet of living space.

The nearly four-acre estate was the home of the late William “Bill” Tilley, who was chief executive of the Jacmar Cos. and chairman of Shakey’s USA.

New record low for 15-year mortgages

Jeff Clabaugh
Broadcast/Web Reporter- Washington Business Journal

Long-term mortgage rates continued to move lower this week, with a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage falling to a record low for the second consecutive week.

The weekly rate report from Freddie Mac (OTC:FMCC) says 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.35 percent in the week ending May 2, down from 3.40 percent last week. The average rate on a 30-year fix is just above its all-time low of 3.31 percent set in November.

A 15-year fix fell to an average of 2.56 percent, on par with average rates for both one-year and five-year adjustable-rate mortgages.

Both buyers and existing homeowners are taking advantage of low rates.

The Mortgage Bankers Association says applications for mortgages rose for the fourth straight week last week.

Sales of existing homes in the first quarter reached the highest level since the end of 2009, and new-home sales in the first quarter were the highest since the summer of 2008.

Housing starts jump dramatically in March; building permits fall

By Andrew KhouriApril 16, 2013, 6:45 a.m.

New residential construction rose significantly in March as builders started more multi-unit dwellings.

Housing starts rose 7% from upwardly revised February figures to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,036,000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. The rate was 46.7% higher than March 2012.

Housing starts jumped higher than economists polled by Bloomberg News expected, after the Commerce Department said builders started many more units in February than previously thought.

The department revised February starts to an annual rate of 968,000 from 917,000.

As home prices rose last year and continued their upward trajectory this year, builders have increasingly looked to raise money and put up new homes, decisions that will boost jobs in construction as well as related industries. Last week, Arizona builder Taylor Morrison Home Corp. went public.

Southern California’s housing recovery: An interactive map

But while multifamily building was up in March, single-family housing starts dropped 4.8% compared with the previous month.

Building permits, an indication of future building, also were down, dropping 3.9% from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 902,000, although they were up 17.3% from March of last year.

As home builders look to capitalize on the low inventory that has lifted prices, they are racing to catch up after years of anemic building.

The National Assn. of Home Builders said Monday that builder confidence fell this month, the third consecutive decline. Developers cited rising construction costs and the lack of developed lots as concerns.

Still, builders expressed growing optimism in future sales, as expectations for the next six months reached the highest level in more than six years.

Compared with February, housing starts fell in the Northeast but rose in the Midwest, South and West.

Freddie Mac: 30-year mortgage at 3.43%, lowest since January

By E. Scott ReckardApril 11, 2013, 8:18 a.m.

Mortgage rates are at their lowest level since January, the widely watched Freddie Mac survey shows, with the average for a 30-year fixed-rate loan dropping to 3.43% this week from 3.54% a week ago.

The survey of rates lenders are offering to solid borrowers, released Thursday, said the average rate for a 15-year fixed home loan descended from 2.74% to 2.65%. Borrowers would have paid less than 1% of the loan amount in upfront lender fees and points to obtain the loans.

A lackluster employment report for March and a survey showing that average hourly wages were unchanged tamped down concerns that the Fed might back off the bond-buying spree that has kept rates near record lows, said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

Quiz: How much do you know about mortgages?

A different scenario that has gained ground is that a recent spurt of economic growth and hiring could sputter out, as occurred during the spring of 2011 and again in 2012. Indicators have been seesawing, with first-time jobless claims dropping significantly last week after rising sharply the previous week.

“The weaker the economy remains, especially job growth, the longer these [Federal Reserve] programs will continue to keep interest rates and mortgage rates low,” said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com, another provider of mortgage data.

An HSH survey also showed a decline of about one-tenth of a percentage point in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate, to the lowest level since mid-January.

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Jeff Lazerson, who runs the Mortgage Grader loan brokerage in Laguna Niguel, said borrowers who paid him 1% of the loan balance were able to get 30-year fixed loans early this week at 3.25%.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giant that has been a ward of the government since the financial crisis, polls lenders each week about the terms they are offering to borrowers with excellent credit, 20% down payments or home equity, and the income to repay their debts.

The survey does not include third-party costs often borne by borrowers, such as title insurance and appraisal fees.

Jamie McCourt asking $65 million for Westside mansion

By Lauren Beale, Los Angeles Times, March 29, 2013, 11:55 a.m.

 

Could it be time to get out of Dodge? Former Dodgers Chief Executive Jamie McCourt is quietly offering her Westside estate at $65 million.

The Palladian-style villa, which is not in the Multiple Listing Service, was marketed as having 20,000 square feet of living space when she and ex-husband Frank McCourt bought the property in 2004 for about $25 million. Also on the 2.6-acre site then were two guesthouses, a tennis court and an outdoor swimming pool. She has since added a subterranean indoor pool.

Built in 1990 and redone in 2000, the house featured six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a sound studio, a wine cellar and a projection room when she made the purchase.

Jamie McCourt, 59, also owns two adjacent homes in Malibu. The 5,500-square-foot John Lautner-designed Segel residence, bought in 2007 for $27 million, and a smaller house next to it, purchased soon after for $19 million.

Foreclosures decline nationwide to lowest level since 2007

By Andrew KhouriMarch 28, 2013, 5:00 a.m.

Foreclosures nationwide continued to fall steadily last month, adding more momentum to the housing recovery.

Meanwhile, the number of homes in the foreclosure pipeline decreased as well. About 1.2 million homes were in some stage of the foreclosure process in February, a 21% drop from February 2012 and a 1.8% decline from January.

“The drop in delinquencies and foreclosure starts will help support a resurgence in the home purchase market this year and next,” CoreLogic Chief Executive Anand Nallathambi said in a statement.

Southern California’s housing recovery: An interactive map

Although a drop in foreclosures has helped boost home prices nationwide, the rate of completed foreclosures remains historically high. The Irvine firm said that completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 a month from 2000 to 2006.

Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, roughly 4.2 million homes have been foreclosed on nationwide, CoreLogic said.

About 2.8% of all homes with a mortgage were in some stage of the foreclosure process in February, compared with 3.5% in February 2012.

SoCal home prices up 21%; February sales volume hits 6-year high

Southern California once again saw strong home price increases last month as the percentage of absentee buyers hit a record high and cash buyers remained a dominant force.

The six-county Southland saw the median home price rise nearly 21% over the year, while remaining essentially flat compared with January, real estate information provider DataQuick said Wednesday.

A total of 15,945 new and resale homes and condos sold in February — the highest volume for a February in six years. Buyers in Southern California paid a median of $320,000 last month as fewer homes sold in lower-cost Riverside and San Bernardino counties that have become a haven for investors looking to flip or rent out houses.

Southern California’s housing recovery: An interactive map

“Most every gauge shows prices are up significantly over the past year, even after adjusting for changes in the types of homes selling,” DataQuick President John Walsh said in a statement.

Still, last month’s median price was still well off the 2007 peak of $505,000, Walsh noted.

The median sales price is the point at which half of homes sold for more and half sold for less; it is influenced by the types of homes selling as well as a general rise or fall in values.

Home prices have been on the rise as inventory has tightened significantly and interest rates have remained low. Investors have scooped up many low-priced and bank-owned properties to rent or flip and foreclosures have made up a declining share of homes sold.

Foreclosed homes were 15.8% of the resale market last month, down from 32.6% a year earlier.

Absentee buyers — chiefly investors, along with some second-home buyers — accounted for 31.4% of home sales in February, the highest figure since DataQuick began tracking the figure in 2000. Buyers paying with cash purchased a near-record 35.6% of homes.

Data from the previous two months shows investors playing a major role, Walsh said. But that may be influenced some by the holiday house-hunting season, which tends to skew the buyer pool more toward investors.

“March and April will offer a better view of how broader market trends are shaping up this year,” Walsh said. ”One of the real wild cards will be how many more homes go up for sale. More people who’ve long been thinking of selling will be tempted to list their homes at today’s higher prices.”

As prices rise, more homeowners will escape their negative equity positions, allowing them to sell their homes and potentially loosening supply. “A meaningful rise in the supply of homes on the market should at least tame price appreciation,” Walsh said.

All counties — Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura — saw significant price increases.

Orange County saw the most dramatic price gains as the county’s median sales price rose 22.3% to $477,000.  In Los Angeles County, the median sales price rose 17.1% — a sizable jump, but the smallest of the region. Buyers there shelled out a median of $350,000.