UCLA Real Estate Wire

Mansion Global: "Disparities Between Listing and Sales Prices Signal a Need to Adjust to Cooling Market "

"We often see houses listed with the expectation of sellers that pricing has been continuing upward, and a lot of times, they price their homes by extrapolating continued upward market movement," said Paul Habibi, professor at the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate. "But once the market stalls out, those houses sit on the market for longer, there’s a scarcity of buyers, and lower bids. Sellers start to lower their asking prices or else accept offers below list."

[MG: 11/23/2018]

Los Angeles Times: "Another Southern California home-price boom is cooling. Is a crash looming?"

“I don’t think we need to worry this time around about a bursting of a credit bubble,” said Stuart Gabriel, director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA. “We can cross that factor off the list.”

[LAT: 11/4/18]

Mansion Global: "Los Angeles Market Levels Off, But It’s Still a Good Time to Buy"

"Paul Habibi, a professor at the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, agreed. "We have had a dramatic run-up in pricing in L.A. since the recession," he said, noting that in many in-demand areas, there were double-digit price increases for several years. "But it’s hard to continue that frenetic pace for an extended period of time."
The changes L.A. is experiencing today mean a return to a more sustainable and measured growth, he said. And because other economic factors, like the job market and stock market, remain strong, "there is no reason for purchasers to suspend their home-buying activity," he continued.

[MG:10/5/18]

Curbed LA: "Inglewood home values are soaring— blame the NFL stadium?"

"In less than seven years, the median price of a home in Inglewood has more than doubled. It’s not just the stadium that’s enticing buyers, says Stuart Gabriel, director of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate. The arrival of the Crenshaw/LAX rail line, which is set to open next year, along with a proposed arena for the Los Angeles Clippers and new development in and around nearby LAX, could further inflate home values in the area."

[CLA: 9/19/18]

Curbed LA: "Are Los Angeles home prices finally about to dip?"

"Eric Sussman, adjunct professor of accounting and real estate at UCLA, agrees. “I don’t think there’s any question that the housing market is slowing,” he says, adding that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if prices in LA start dropping “in the next few months.” If the market cools off in coming months, says Sussman, rising mortgage interest rates will likely be to blame. Since September 2017, interest rates on conventional home loans have shot up nearly a full percentage point."

[CLA: 8/17/18]

Mansion Global: "Los Angeles Property Asks $1 Billion—But Can it Sell?"

"Even in the most optimistic and hypothetical situation, the development would result in a community of homes that would have to sell at prices the city has yet to record in order to provide a decent return on investment, said Paul Habibi, a real estate entrepreneur and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. "One could potentially do a zone change, there are various ways to change the planning ordinances," Mr. Habibi said, adding that with 17 lots, a developer would still need to fill them with the largest possible homes that he could sell in order to make back the land cost."

[MG: 8/5/18]

CoStar: "New Affordable Housing Project Breaking Ground"

"Paul Habibi, a finance and real estate lecturer at UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management, said given the current housing crisis, this project is a "drop in the bucket" in terms of the total housing stock in Los Angeles, but "this is certainly a step in the right direction." "We need more housing units at the lower and moderate-income thresholds," said Habibi, who is also principal and co-founder of Habibi Properties LLC."

[CS: 6/27/18]

GlobeSt: "How The Government Can Solve L.A.’S Housing Crisis"

"The most recent Affordability Housing Policy Brief paper from UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate explores the government’s recent approach to solving the housing crisis. Transit-oriented development, density and land-use controls have been the government’s focus to solving the problem—but are they working? GlobeSt sat down with Julia E. Stein, senior counsel at Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP, who co-authored the report with David P. Waite, a partner at Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP, to talk about the strategy for solving the housing crisis and the approach they believe that the government should take."

[GS: 5/10/18]

Curbed LA: "Is it better to buy or rent in Los Angeles?"

“There’s no right or wrong answer,” says Eric Sussman, adjunct professor of real estate and accounting at UCLA. “But you’d better be thoughtful about it.How many people have $120,000 lying around?” Sussman asks. That’s one reason why he says the question of whether it’s better to buy or rent depends on a host of other factors, including how much buyers have saved up and whether they are willing to make such a large financial commitment."

[CLA: 4/26/18]

Los Angeles Times: "$110-million home sale in Malibu is set to be a new record for Los Angeles County"

"Sales activity indicates that while some long-term investors are bearish on the consequences of climate change, others have no issue with it, according to Paul Habibi, a professor of real estate at UCLA."

[LAT: 4/24/18]