Maureen Megowan's Blog

These homes really stood out from this week's Broker Tour:

4005 VIA NIVEL, PALOS VERDES ESTATES               PRICED AT $1,500,000            MLS# V09033992

3433 VIA LA SELVA, PALOS VERDES ESTATES_______  _PRICED AT $ 1,525,000          MLS# V09034311

I love this 4 bedrom and 3 bath Old Spanish style home with an intriguing variety of woods, tiles and stained glass! There are 3 fireplaces, in the master, living and guest bedrooms. This home is a blend of elegant old world charm with all the modern amenities, including a bedroom/office study with built-in book cases & file drawers. The master bedroom & balcony overlooks the flower filled backyard with a path leading to an artist studio, work shop or sunny retreat. The huge camelia bushes are estimated to be 50 to 60 years old and laden with flowers. Built in 1947, the second story was added in the 1980's. It is situated on a lush corner lot on one of the most prestigous streets in Palos Verdes Estates.

2804 VIA ANANCAPA, PALOS VERDES ERSTATES, ___PRICED AT $1,195,000           MLS# V09028207

LUNADA BAY  - Super Deal with 4  Bedrooms with 2.5 Bathrooms. Vaulted Ceilings in Living Room. Large Granite Kitchen.   It has Flat Lot with an Outdoor Spa & Room for a Pool. Lower Lunada Bay...Walk to Schools. It is "Sold As Is".

1 HILLTOP CIRCLE. ROLLING HILLS ESTATES,           PRICED AT $889,000            MLS# V09034496

BEAUTIFULLY REMODELED WITH LIGHT BAMBOO FLOORS, GRANITE, MARBLE & REPLACED WINDOWS and a soft neutral carpet. Special features -  wine cooler, white shutters and blinds throughout, recessed lighting and built In Plasma TV with Bose surround sound. Living room also offers wet bar with marble counter and fireplace. Newly replaced wood deck. All filtered hot water, crown moldings. Community pool, clubhouse and tennis court.

If you would like to see these properties and others in Palos Verdes Peninsula or in the South Bay,

Call or email Maureen Megowan for an appointment.

 310-259-7124, mmegowan@cox.net and through my websiute at www.maureenmegowan.com

I toured the almost complete Casitas and Villas at the Terrenea Resort in Racho Palos Verdes the other day and marveled at how beautiful the new resort is. The views from the 3 hotel pools are simply unbelievable, especially the lower pool just above the beach cove area.

Artists Rendering of completed lower pool

Artists Rendering of Family Pool

The project is slated for a June opening and is taking job applications now.

For more information about Rancho Palos Verdes, visit my webstie at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

This Saturday March 28th, 2009 there will be a charity clam chowder cookoff at the Redondo Beach Pier from 1 to 4 pm. The cookoff is being sponsored by Quality Seafood Inc., and proceeds from the cookoff will benefit The Wellness Community, South Bay, which offers a free program for cancer patients and their families.  Local restaurants, including Quality Seafood, Old Tony's, Fat Face Fenner's Fish Shack, and Delzano's by the Sea will prepare their unique recipes, and those that purchase the $6 tasting kit will vote for their favorite. The tasting kit consists of a spoon, bowl and the right to taste 5 samples.

The location of the cookoff will be at the north end of the pier parking structure, lower level, across from the arcade.

For more information about PV Sports, Recreation
And  Parks  , visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

The new adults-only jacuzzi at the Palos Verdes Beach and Athletic Club is now open. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony at 6:30 pm on Wednesday April 15th, just before the club's annual meeting to be held immediately after the end of the ceremony. This new jacuzzi is located on the hillside below the snack bar and is situated to provide spectacular views of Santa Monica Bay and the South Bay beaches.

For more information about PV Sports, Recreation
And  Parks  , visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

Most of the residents pass by the obscure white structure on Palos Verdes Drive West above Bluff Cove between Lunada Bay and Malaga Cove in Palos Verdes Estates without any idea as to what it is.  This building is the "Douglas Cut Pumping Station" operated by the Sanitation District to pump sewage.  Last Tuesday, the City Council of Palos Verdes Estates voted to bury this civic eyesore.

The building will be mostly buried under a contract estimated to cost approx. $1.5 million. The option to mostly bury the new structure cost an additional $200,000. An electric meter will remain above ground.The project is estimated to be completed by April 2010.

The existing station was constructed in 1962.

For more information about Palos Verdes Estates and buying or selling a home on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

In today's South Bay Daily Breeze, the headlines proclaimed : "HOME PRICES CONTINUE TO SLIDE IN SOUTH BAY".  The article then goes on to say that the Median Home Price in the South Bay "continued to tumble in February, with a steep year-over-year decline for the month... The median price of a local home fell 13.5 per cent to $510,000 last month, compared with the same period last year." The same article reported that the median sales price of a home in the South Bay Beach Cities also declined 28.6% to $850,000 compared to the prior year.

What makes this on-going reporting misleading, is that as long as the media compares home prices only to a year ago, the biased reporting will continue to show huge price declines, when in actuality the prices have begun to stabilize and actually move up in several markets in recent months. For example, the following is the published chart of median home prices for last month:

Compared to last month, the median sales price of a home in the South Bay actually increased in February from the above reported $477,500 for January to $510,000 in February, an almost 7% increase over the prior month. The median sales price for a home in the Beach Cities of the South Bay (El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Playa del Rey and Redondo Beach) increased from $744,000 in January to $859,000 in February, a 14% increase over the prior month.

The media needs to tell the full story as to what is going on in the real estate markets, and compare sales prices on a month to month basis so that consumers can get a true sense as to whether prices have stabilized or in fact are starting to improve.

For more information about Palos Verdes Real Estate and buying or selling a home on the Palos Verdes peninsula, visit my website at http://maureenmegowan.com

The Steering Committee charged with coming up with a proposed plan for the Knoll Hill property owned by the Port of Los Angeles which is currently being utilized as baseball fields by the Eastview Little League is considering one proposal that would create 2 baseball fields next to each other in a semi-circular formation (reduced from the current 3 fields), which would be used by the Little League for 4 months, and then converted into a public performance space by moving the temporary backstops.

This is just the latest in a series of proposals being discussed which may include an exploratory playground for children, restrooms and food service, and trails, as well as the possible expansion of the off-leash dog park at the base of the hill.

Unfortunately, long term plans for the site calls for the property to be used to accommodate reworking the onramps and offramps for the Vincent Thomas Bridge and the harbor Freeway. Port authorities have indicated that any use of the site would be temporary and probably limited to 3 years. Therefor, a permanent location for the Little League fields and the off-leash dog park still need to be resolved.

For more information about San Pedro , visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

The Redondo Beach City Council approved a $11.9 million plan to renovate the Seaside lagoon in Redondo BEach Tuesday night.  The approved plans is one of three concepts developed by Aquatic Design Group, Inc. originally proposed in December. This plan retains the largest footprint for the new lagoon of approx. 20,00 square feet, about half of the existing lagoon size.

The City Council has looked at several options to renovate the Lagoon and has chosen this plan to comply with the Los Angeles Water Quality Control Board request to meet all required water quality standards. The current lagoon obtains its salt water from the nearby power plant, adds chlorine, then removes the chlorine before discharging the water into the harbor. The Water Quality Control Board must now approve the plan, but moving forward is dependent on the City obtaining funding.

For more about South Bay real estate, visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

The following are general levels of interest rates for various loan terms for both conforming and Jumbo loans as provided by Al Hermann at al@american-california.com . Interest rates for conforming loans are down about a 1/4 point from 2 weeks ago due to the Federal Reserve program to purchase mortgage backed securities. Loan rates for Jumbo mortgages are also becoming more attractive as lenders re-enter the market.

For additional information about Financing , buying or selling a home, visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

The Federal Reserve Bank announced yesterday its intentions to pump in an additional $1.25 Trillion dollars into the economy in an attempt to lower long term interest rates. This program will include $300 billion to purchase 10 year term Treasury securities, fund an additional $725 billion (in addition to a previusly announced $500 billion)  to purchase mortgage backed securites issued fy Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as buying an additional $100 billion in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt. The intent is to lower market interest rates for new mortgages and other long term interest rates.

In the short term, this strategy has proved to be effective in lowering mortgage rates, currently in the high 4% to low 5% range, for conforming mortgages (less than $417,000) purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It is expected that this additional impetus by the Federal Reserve may lower interest rates an additional 1/2 to 1/2%.

The major concern raised by this program is the potential effect this will have on future inflation. The Federal Reserve at this time seems to be more concerned with limiting the risk of deflation and a deeper recession. The Federal Reserve program is tantamount to simply printing money.Substantially increasing the money supply faster than the economy is growing would normally be highly inflationary.

I would advise anyone considering buying a home or refinancing their mortgage to do so as soon as possible. Historically low interest rates and substantially reduced prices make this an extraordinary time to buy a home.

I think that there is a high degree of risk of interest rates rising substantially over the next year. This is due to two reasons. As soon as the Federal Reserve Bank is no longer able to continue to pump such vast amounts of money into supplying capital to the mortgage markets, interest rates could rise substantially as the private sector is simply not investing in mortgage backed securities at this time. As capital dries up, interest rates could rise substantially. In addition, as the economy recovers, the huge increase in the money supply could lead to inflationary pressures and expectations, also significantly increasing long term interest rates.

I really believe that in 12 to 18 months, we will look back upon this time as one of the best times to have bought a home in our lifeetimes.

For more information on Financing a purchase of a home on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com