Monique Carrabba

I was driving on Sepulveda the other day and I saw the massive Target opening. I was surprised to go to the other Target down the street on Sepuleda Blvd and they said they plan on keeping the two Targets open. This is a shopaholic's dream come true. The Fox Hills area of Culver City has always had a tarnished image. Being close to the traffic nightmare that is the bend of the 405. You Westsider's take note. There is the 90 Freeway and Slauson as a short cut around all the traffic. Plenty of reason to visit the new Westfield Fox Hills Mall come October 2009 which will include at 347,000 square foot expansion. I don't think I have been to Fox Hills mall in many years. Perhaps digging through for a bookcase at the JCPENNEY furniture store. The plans for the Fox Hills mall are amazing. Westfields the Australian company that made Century City Mall a must stop for movies, high-end shopping and the most upscale mall food court I have ever been to is taking Fox Hills and giving her a much needed facelift. Due to open in October 2009, the mall will feature a glorious Target, Dave and Busters (for the boys), street facing retail and al fresco dining. I can't wait! It will be a much needed update for a mall many would have like to seen torn down.

$8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

Now is a great time to be a first time home buyer with the $8,000 Federal Tax credit for qualifying first time home buyers valid for purchases through December 1, 2009. Recent guidelines for the credit are now allowing buyers using FHA insured loans to use the credit toward down-payment assistance.

For more information you can visit: http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr09-072.cfm

$10,000 California New Home Tax

California was allocated $100,000,000 for new home construction tax credit that is being paid through the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB). Unfortunately, as of July 3, 2009, the State of California has stop accepting any new applications as it is anticipated that the FTB will have depleted the funds allocated for this program shortly.

For more information you can visit http://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/New_Home_Credit.shtml

What's amazing is that I live in Picfair Village, not the Inland Empire or Palmdale where these things have been happening since late 2007. Not in my backyard! I purchased my home when the market was falling 1 year ago. Who would have thought it would go down so much?? Now, I remember this happened before, around 1980, 1988 and 1998. Going further back, we have had 12 recessions in the US since the 1940s. I am a 5th generation Californian and have heard the same stories time and time again. Real estate always goes up in Los Angeles! In the 1970s, when I was a kid, there were a lot less people. When my Mom was a child in LA, you could ride horses in the Valley pretty much anywhere and there was plenty of open land for peach and orange groves. Not anymore. And people keep moving to this wonderful place? In 1962, the house my parents bought in Toluca Lakewas $32,000. It is now worth about $1.8-$2.0 million! Sure, prices are down, but if you look at the big picture, now is the time to buy. We don't know if prices will continue to drop but eventually they will go up and double or (possibly) triple in the years to come. And as they say with interest rates at record lows "money is cheap!" There are foreclosures and now they aren't just in the suburbs. They are next door. Now I just ask that someone please buy them and pretty them up so when the market goes back up (and it will) it will help make my block (and all of the other blocks) look a whole lot better!

You can't escape the news of the great collapse of the economy in 2008. Drastic depreciation in property values with home inventories and foreclosures on the rise. Thankfully there is some good news (at least for Westchester). What we are seeing in Westchester is a slip in the median sales price for homes. Values for income properties have increased slightly. For condos the news is bad. Condo sales in Westchester (where there are few developments) have slipped over 80% and values dropped about 31%. I have always urged my clients, whenever possible, to stick to "dirt" and not to condos. This is the reason why. For those that can't afford a home, a condo is a good option. However, when the market falls, condos always prices are always the hardest hit. Despite the condo market being hurt, it could be a lot worse. The median price of a home has slipped, as has the number of homes for sale. One could argue that median prices have fallen because many of the homes that have sold are foreclosures and REOs, which are listed at drastic discounts. In other parts of the Westside, we have seen drops in sales volume of up to 50%. In my opinion, Westchester is braving the storm in these tough economic times. Finally some good news!

Below are the year end real estate sales statistics for Westchesterfrom 2007 and 2008: