Palos Verdes Real Estate

January 2016 Newsletter

January, 2016

Dear Neighbor:

The real estate market hasn’t changed a lot since I last wrote in November.  There continues to be a general shortage of homes for sale, but lest you think that guarantees an instant sale for any house newly on the market, the statistics don’t bear that out.  As I mentioned last August, the market slowed in early Summer for no discernible reason other than a) it couldn’t possibly continue at the frenetic pace of the prior 6 months, and b) an affordability threshold had, in my opinion, been reached, where the prices had climbed to levels where, notwithstanding historically low interest rates, there simply weren’t enough buyers who could afford them.   The shortage of inventory, however, has tended to support prices, so you haven’t seen the decline you often do when the market slows down.

Meanwhile, as you probably heard, the Fed has begun to raise interest rates, and while it takes a while for that to filter down to the kind of long-term rates that affect real estate, that train may be pulling out of the station.  This normally causes a flurry of activity that lasts, at most, a couple of months.  Once rates are perceived as “high” (even tho they might otherwise still be below anything since WW 2) buyers tend to back off:  “can’t buy now – I coulda had 3.75% and now it’s 4.5%”).  If you’re thinking of buying or selling, now might be the time.

I will have two new listings on the market in PVE about the time you receive this:  1329 Granvia Altamira is a remodeled 4 bedroom 2.5 bath one level 2440 square feet on a very large flat lot in Montemalaga  priced at $1,995,000.  The other is on Paseo Del Mar – 3419 square foot 5 bedroom 4 bath, one level, steps from the bluffs overlooking Lunada Bay.  As of this writing, I also have two very nice homes for sale at 2737 Via La Selva (3 bedroom 2 bath, remodeled and in a magnificent location, asking $1,495,000) and 24 Packet Road, RPV, which is a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath 2420 square foot home 5 lots from the bluff at Abalone Cove, asking $1,395,000.

As promised, here is more on the history of Palos Verdes:  Did you know that Palos Verdes played an important role in the early days of World War 2?  At the start of the War, the Navy Department owned the land at the northwest corner of Highridge and Crest, which housed long wave antennae used to communicate with the naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  Messages were relayed from Washington DC on longwave transmitters, thru the station at Palos Verdes, and on to Pearl Harbor.  When the Marines invaded Guadalcanal 7 August 1942, the Navy Department communicated with General Vandegrift’s command by relay from headquarters in Washington DC, thru the Palos Verdes antennae, to Pearl Harbor, and on to Guadalcanal.  After the War, a prominent ham radio operator named Don Wallace purchased the “antenna farm” from the Navy Department and operated it thru his death in 1985.  The nearby housing development known as Wallace Ranch is named after Don Wallace.  This story and others about the history of Palos Verdes is included in my article “The Things You Always Wondered About Palos Verdes” on my website DanaGraham.com – look under History and Current Events at the lower right.  As a 68-year resident, I personally witnessed much of it.

If you’re thinking of buying or selling real estate, either your primary residence or an investment, call me at 310 613-1076 or email me at [email protected].

Sincerely,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Dana H Graham                                                                                                                                                             DRE #00877973

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2016 at 1:12 pm and is filed under Everything I've Written. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed.