Burbank Airport is funding noise-abatement program, but maybe not for long

The Burbank Airport and the FAA teamed up several years ago to offer a noise abatement program to local homeowners.  If a home was subject to a certain decibel level of over-fly airline noise, the program provided and installed a/c, double-paned windows, double doors, insulation, etc.  Not bad, eh?  Many people took advantage of this.  The program ran out of money for awhile but is now funded again.

Now, though, the program funds may be on the federal chopping block.  Airport officials are encouraging eligible homeowners in the Burbank/North Hollywood/Sunland areas to apply now rather than wait.  Burbank Leader has a great article about this today and the title above should link to it.  This is an excellent program and eligible homeowners should get it while its hot!

The real estate news is bad...or IS it?

By now, everybody knows that the national housing stats released yesterday were pretty dreadful.  Slowest month since whenever, etc., etc.  And yes, I've seen that the market has slowed down this summer (although the end of August is almost always slow).  But wait! Today's Burbank Leader's headline is Local Housing Market Better than Most.  It goes on to detail how Burbank real estate and Glendale real estate sales have actually been pretty good, and how homprices have actually risen year over year.  Not by much, but still...

And then there's another AP article buried deep in today's L.A. Times Business section, titled More Mortgage Modifications Seem to be Sticking.  It goes on to say that this news possibly debunks predictions of a huge wave of defaults to come.

So maybe there is another side to the story.  And if you're thinking about real estate in Studio City, Burbank, Hollywood Hills or pretty much anywhere in greater L.A., keep in mind the other big housing statistic: interest rates are at historic lows.

Not about San Fernando Valley real estate, but about my two other favorite thing: my husband and cats

Check Wednesday's (we think) Burbank Leader for a Joyce Rudolph-bylined story about The World Is Still Your Litterbox.  This is the sequel to The World is Your Litterbox, the hilarious how-to book dictated to my husband, Steve Fisher, by his cat, Quasi.  And by the way, I'm not the only blogger in the house -- Quasi has his own blog, and probably has more readers than me, damn him.

Burbank low flow toilet and water saving devices -- new rules from Burbank city council

This week, Burbank city council passed new water saving retrofit requirements.  Burbank will now require low-flow toilets and other water-saving devices in every home, just like the city of L.A..  These will need to be installed when a residence sells or otherwise changes hands.  Here's the article from the Burbank Leader.  On behalf of our clients, we Realtors have opposed this due to the cost, hassle and dubious actual water savings, but see the 2009 video above -- Dave Golonski, for one, did not care what Realtors think.

How'd I miss this great blog about Burbank?

Burbank, California -- this is the title of a great new blog that I've just learned about.  I'm not sure who is writing this, but it has lots of great insider information on the workings of Burbank.  Scroll down to June 2009 and find out the real reason the former fire chief and police chiefs are no longer with us.  I don't mean to make this sound like Perez Hilton, Burbank style -- the blog has a very thoughtful, journalistic approach to reporting and stories that you won't read in the Burbank Leader.

San Fernando Valley diversity and traffic delays, as if you didn't already know

Here's a Burbank Leader article with the title, "Valley residents more diverse, wealthy, delayed."  It contains facts from the U.S. Census Bureau re the demographics of our fair land.  I love that it refers to the SFV as "the nation's largest geographic non-municipal entity."  Other factoids: the SFV has 1.74 million residents (good God, is that all?), we experience longer traffic delays than other local areas (no!), more than half of SFV residents spend 35% or more of their incomes on housing, and Glendale has over 10% unemployment.  But the SFV still has no high-end, gourmet taco trucks.  When will we be worthy?

Thanks for the blog p.r., Phyllis!

Today's Burbank Leader/Glendale News Press real estate section has an article entitled "Have You Wondered What a Blog Is?" It features this blog and agent Phyllis Harb's blog, LAreBlog.com. Thanks, Phyllis, for arranging!

Slim pickings on the real estate front

Just as we've been saying...here's an article from the Burbank Leader about the local real estate market. IMO, this covers all local real estate, too, not just Burbank. Here's the opening paragraph: "Frustration is mounting among home shoppers trying to take advantage of historic drops in prices as the suply of real estate for sale in Glendale andBurbank dwindles, experts and agents say."

Shooting in Burbank

The Toluca Woods/Lake part of Burbank is one of the nicest, most peaceful neighborhoods in town. However, early Wednesday morning, a woman was shot dead in the doorway of her home on Jacaranda. The shooters were caught shortly thereafter and have already been arraigned. Here's the Burbank Leader article. I've been told that this was an organized crime-related event. How sad for the victim, her family, and the community.

Burbank building permits are not good until the end of time

Much to the dismay of local developers, Burbank City Council recently voted to stop extending the expiration dates of building permits. This means that a project that was permitted, oh, say, during the Reagan administration, but was never built, will now have to go through the permitting review process again. Read the Burbank Leader story here. Most of the developers who are affected by the vote had approved plans from two to three years ago (the permits are good for at least a year) but could not get the necessary financing to begin construction.

I say, good. (And yes, I'm a NIMBY: I'm delighted that a planned huge apartment complex will now not be built behind my house.) I know of several previously-approved projects that would not have been in keeping with the neighborhood character, would have added additional traffic to the surrounding streets, and are of questionable need anyway. Times change and communities do, too -- and I think it's worthwhile to reexamine permitted, unbuilt projects to make sure they will be a good fit in the future.

Also, as my friend Ellen Dimler stated so succinctly in the Leader article: "The power of one council must not extend indefinitely.”

Are local home prices down 21%? Or 41%?

Here are some new statistics on our local housing market from today’s L.A. Times. Be careful when reading this article: It appears that while sales prices in the region (not sure how “region” is defined) are down 41%, L.A. County’s drop is 29%, and its median sales price is now $355,000. And, homes in the top third of the market have fallen 21%. Quite a wide swing in stats, I would say. Here are the relevant quotes from Peter Hong, the article’s author:

"Los Angeles County's median home sales price was $355,000, down 29% from a year ago.”

"Low prices did drive sales up 56% from a year ago. But a market bottom remains elusive, and a rebound in prices is not on the horizon." (Yes, I know this is not good news.)

"Last month's Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which tracks home sales by price tiers, showed that Los Angeles-area homes priced in the bottom third of the market had fallen 42% from their peak prices by late last summer -- but those in the top third had dropped 21%."

Mr. Hong also points out that foreclosed homes have dragged down the average price. Here’s how that works. If the majority of homes on the market are foreclosures with their lower prices, the majority of sales will be foreclosed homes with their lower prices as well.

Now, more real estate news from today’s Burbank Leader. The news is good for sellers as the average home sales price in Burbank inched up to $544,166 in October. For Glendale, it went up to $673,365 – close to double the county average.

Jeremy Oberstein, the article’s author, also cites a market index for both cities. It is based on a month-to-month ratio of new listings, active listings and days a house is listed as available on the market. Burbank’s market index for October is 0.41, and Glendale’s is 0.32. An index higher than 1.20 indicates a healthier market for home sellers, while a figure less than 0.80 reflects a more advantageous market for home buyers. I have emailed Mr. Oberstein and asked about the source of the index data.

Here are the relevant quotes from the Burbank Leader article:

"In Burbank, the average sale price for a home inched up to $544,166 in October, slightly higher than September’s figure and 11.3% less than the same point in 2007."

I'm quoted again in the Burbank Leader

I was quoted again regarding house prices in today's Burbank Leader. The headline title here should link to the article. The article is also on my website.