By CHUCK GREEN
Putting on the Ritz? Or at least booking a stay there?
As the hotel industry continues to regain its traction this year in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, according to at least one industry leader, it seems that, overall, luxury brands generally have been on a faster track toward recovery than others.
“Resort markets are off the charts,” Jim Butler, partner and chairman of the Global Hospitality Group in Los Angeles, told The Mortgage Note. “Everybody went as soon as they could.”
In 2020, the value of the luxury hotel market stood at $174.9 billion, according to Mordor Intelligence. During the forecast period 2021-2026, it’s projected to hit a compound annual growth rate of more than…
By CHUCK GREEN Next time you run into someone in the local Starbucks who happens to have their home on the market, be a sport and plop an extra scone into their bag, huh? A little butter and jam, too? After all, sellers probably aren’t riding the wave of a sugar high induced by whatever they will pocket in their real estate transactions as experts say the price of an average home in the United States is decreasing. The cities expected to be the most heavily hit include: San Francisco: -10.36% Seattle: -9.55% San Diego: -7.24% Los Angeles: -5.61% Denver: -5.60% Dallas: -4.34% Portland: -4.25% Las Vegas: -3.69% What is contributing to the drop in housing prices? B. George Ratiu,…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Officials at the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday that they have secured over $31 million from City National Bank to resolve allegations of redlining in Los Angeles County. City National is the largest bank headquartered in Los Angeles and among the 50 largest banks in the country. This is the largest redlining settlement agreement in the department’s history, according to a press release. Redlining is an illegal practice where lenders avoid providing credit services to individuals living in communities of color because of the race, color, or national origin of the residents in those communities. According to the complaint filed in federal court, City National avoided providing mortgage lending services to majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS A Los Angeles broker convicted of defrauding lenders to obtain more than $8 million in mortgage loans has been sentenced to five years and four months in prison. Alex Ashod Dadourian, 61, was a licensed mortgage loan broker whose company, Success Funding, doing business as Pride Funding, was located in Northridge, California. Investigators claim that Dadourian received more than $254,000 in fees and commissions by taking out 17 mortgage loans based on fraudulent applications and supporting documentation between 2017 and 2019. Dadourian was convicted on 91 felony charges of mortgage fraud, grand theft, identity theft, and conspiracy, according to a press release issued on Dec. 7. “We won’t stand idly by when bad actors take advantage of…
By CHUCK GREEN There are those who downright groove to the tune of a lifestyle embedded squarely in the middle of the action. You know, the big city, the vibe of being at the nexus of it all. Downright intoxicating. Conversely, others are swayed by the tranquility of a smaller city or town, finding it as relaxing as, oh, say, a running tab on hot totties. Oh, yeah. Pure nirvana. Now, for those who prefer to be where life can be chill but also gyrate to the beat of maintaining relatively close proximity to where it can be a regular buzzsaw of activity as well, the concept of adjacent cities just might speak their language. Adjacent towns or cities share…
By CHUCK GREEN Now, how about a little, um, pop-up pop quiz? You. Put…the…iPhone….down. Okay, then. What did Marilyn Monroe. Elizabeth Taylor and, oh, say, Tennessee Williams, have in common? Whether compelled by business reasons — or simply because it was how they rolled – the trio lived in hotels. Probably beat the price of real estate. Even back then. Even for them. Seems they were onto something. Today, at least temporarily, a number of individuals – you know, us regular joes – also call hotels or motels la casa. Perhaps they’re working on location for a relatively limited time on a short-term out-of-town job and, given the paucity of housing in many parts of the United States, other accommodations…
By CHUCK GREEN Office vacancy rates are being monitored closely as the commercial space industry continues to grapple with COVID’s effects on the workplace. In Los Angeles, office activity stagnated in the first quarter of 2022. One-fifth of total inventory remained vacant and rents remained unchanged, according to Greg Cornfield at Commercial Observer. Other major metro areas, including New York City, Boston, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Chicago, also continue to experience double-digit vacancy rates. Stemming from remote work due to the variant, San Francisco and DC reportedly kicked off the year with vacancies approaching 20%. In major U.S. markets vacancies of around 60% were recently shown by Kastle Systems, which measures occupancy by looking at foot traffic into offices.…
Condo prices hit a record high– $319,000, up 14.6% YOY and 22.7% from before the pandemic— as buyers priced out of the single-family market turn towards more affordable options, Redfin reported. This is a turn-around from the beginning of the pandemic when American buyers wanted to avoid crowded areas, causing condo sales to drop by 48%. But as pandemic fears subside and home shoppers face stock shortages and price appreciation in the single-family market, condos are making a comeback. Gen Z in particular is reviving urban hotspots assumed to be dying out due to Covid-19. “Big cities are appealing for a host of reasons—big cities offer diverse job opportunities. Big cities offer many amenities that are not available in smaller…
U.S. home prices have broken another record: 8% of homes (6 million) are now worth $1 million or more, according to a new report from Redfin. That is nearly double the share from before the pandemic when the share was only 4.8% (3.5 million). The Bay Area has the biggest share of million-dollar homes, with nearly nine out of 10 properties in San Francisco and San Jose making the list. This isn’t surprising given its long history of being the most expensive place to buy a home in the U.S. Anaheim, CA, saw the biggest increase, with its share of million-dollar homes jumping to 55% from 27% two years ago. California dominated the top five, following up with Oakland (55.1%),…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS A Bel Air megamansion that was listed on the market for $295 million has been purchased at auction by the CEO of Fashion Nova. Richard Saghian, 40, reportedly beat out four other offers for the 105,000-square-foot home. He confirmed he was the winning bidder to the Los Angeles Times. Saghian said the property, with 21 bedrooms, 42 bathrooms, and 7 half baths can never be duplicated. He owns two other houses in southern California, according to the newspaper. “There is nothing else like it. As a lifelong Angeleno and avid collector of real estate, I recognized this as a rare opportunity that also lets me own a unique property that is destined to be a part of…
