2006 is almost over and the real estate market in Los Angeles is picking up! The inventory has gone down slightly and the number of sales have gone up. Buyers are finally realizing that price are not crashing here in LA. They have simply stabilized and now these buyers are starting to buy. 2006 was the second highest record year of all time in real estate sales volume and sales price!!! If you are thinking of buying, now is a great time. Traditionally, November and December are the two slowest months of the year. You will have less competition from other buyers and have a greater chance to negotiate a price for homes that have been sitting on the market for a while. The average time it is taking to sell a home in LA now is about 5 months. If you are selling, I would wait till January 1st and place your home on the market then. Sales pick up in January and you will get fresh and eager buyers! Feel free to contact me with any real estate question you may have at Anthony@TheMillenniumTeam.com or call me at 310 461 1252. Check out my Web site www.TheMillenniumTeam.com and www.LARealtorToTheStars.com for our newest listings and tons of real estate info. YOU CAN EVEN SEARCH THE MLS THERE! Happy Holidays! Anthony Vulin ~

Greenspan Says Housing Market Stable

The housing market isn’t out of the woods yet, but it won’t worsen, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told attendees at the annual Charles Schwab Impact conference in Washington yesterday."I think that while we are past most of it, there are a lot of negatives... but it is no longer subtracting from the [gross domestic product] growth," Greenspan says.Greenspan also said potential adjustments in loan costs facing many homebuyers probably isn’t a serious concern either. While some individuals will feel the pinch as their payments rise, Greenspan says these changes are "very unlikely to have a macroeconomic effect."

Daily Real Estate News | October 30, 2006

Apartment Rents Rise as Buyers Wait on Sidelines
Apartment rents and demand are soaring nationwide as the economy produces good jobs and people who might have bought homes a year ago settle for apartments while they wait for housing prices to tumble.In addition, the supply of rental housing tightened in the past year as many apartments were converted into condominiums in places like Florida and Southern California. Some of those units are now returning to rental markets at high prices as owners struggle to sell them.In the quarter that ended Sept. 30, the average advertised rent reached $978, up 3.9 percent over the year-ago period, according to an analysis of 75 markets by real estate research firm Reis in New York. Some of the biggest increases were seen in Florida and Southern California.Meanwhile, the nationwide vacancy rate for rental housing dropped to 5.4 percent during the quarter from 6.7 percent in the same period of 2004.