HOUSINGNEWS REPORT
LOS ANGELES SPOTLIGHT
LA County Affordability on Par With Historic Norms Median Home Prices YoY Pct Change Avg Weekly Wages YoY Pct Change
ATTOM Affordability Index
40%
180
160
30%
140
20%
120
10%
100
0%
80
-10%
60
-20%
40
-30%
20
0
-40%
rehabbing them into homes that are more appealing to modern buyers, according to Bartlett. He provided examples of homes in the city that are 2-bedroom, 1-bath properties with 1300 square feet. “Knock out a couple of walls and figure out a way to turn that into a 3 -2. … Best product for that neighborhood to achieve the best ROI,” he said “Buyers today want bathrooms five times larger than they did 50 years ago.” Trump Bump? According to Bartlett, the two biggest risks for the Los Angeles housing market now are an earthquake or “some kind of economic shock that comes from
outside of the United States.” He noted that the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president is generally thought of as positive for the real estate industry. “Great, we’re going into extra innings,” he said, describing the sentiment of many in the real estate industry in response to Trump’s election. “If lending standards loosen up, it’s going to help the real estate industry.” Rockower, president of the Real Estate Investors Club of Los Angeles, echoed that sentiment. “As much as I dislike him, he’s probably good for business, which is why the stock market is doing well. … He’s going to get
rid of Dodd-Frank, which is good for real estate” she said, explaining that Dodd- Frank is bad for investors “because if we want to do owner-financing we are subjected to the same rules as Bank of America, which doesn’t make any sense.” But Trump’s unpredictable nature could also be a problem for the real estate market, according to Bartlett and Thornberg, the economist. “Wildcard now is what the hell is Trump going to do?” said Thornberg. “That can go a couple ways.”
ATTOM Data Solutions • P21
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