US POPULATION PROFILES

edited by Jodi Summers

Fascinating statistics gleaned a Federal Government related to hiring practices for business…

· The population of the U.S. increased by 23 million between 2000 and 2008. The increase in Hispanics was more than that of the combined Caucasians, Blacks, and Asians.

· The population of the U.S. is projected to rise from 96 million in 2005 to 438 million in 2050. 82% of the 142 million increase will come from immigrants arriving here between 2005 and 2050 and their descendants.

· Since 2005, 80% of our legal immigrants (and probably 98% of the combined legals and illegals) come from Black and Latino countries. By 2050, Asians, Hispanics and Backs will outnumber Caucasians roughly 56% to 44%.

· There are 311 different languages spoken in the U.S. with only Spanish currently receiving preferential recognition on federal forms, publications, announcements, etc. But it is projected that by the year 2020 at least 3 other languages including Chinese, Arabic and Hindu will attain similar status.

· More than 20% of the current national population considers their primary language to be other than English.

· 75% of all females in the U.S. over the age of 16 work a minimum of 20 hours in the labor market. In 1935, it was 3.6% and in 1950, it was 9.6%.

· Religions growing in the U.S.

Islam 51%

Christianity 33%

Hindu 9.1%

Buddhism 3.8%

Judaism 0.7%

Other 2.4%

· 19% of the current population over the age of 18 receives half or full disability benefits from the U.S. Government. Almost 30% of those are due to overweight.

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LEGACY ASSET FOR SALE - FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S ENNIS HOUSE Asking price $7,495,000

LEGACY ASSET FOR SALE - FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S ENNIS HOUSE

Asking price $7,495,000

By Jodi Summers

Now is the time to shed those legacy assets that lie in neglect. It began when Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger proposed to sell off some California’s most valuable and cost intensive legacy assets, like the Del Mar Fairgrounds and the Memorial Coliseum. Now private parties are doing the same.

If you have an estimated $30 million – give or take, you can buy and restore Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House in Los Feliz, and make Los Angeles a better place. Experts estimate that purchase and repairs pencil out in the neighborhood of $17 million - $7.5 million to buy the property, $9.5 million to renovate, less grant money, give or take any given set of issues. But the results will prove to be a significant architectural monument. Think Falling Water…

The Ennis House is a brilliant blend of Mayan temple and Italian villa in high deco style. It has been noted that some of Wright’s most engaging and innovative architecture was done in Southern California in the years following the end of World War I. From 1919 to 1923, the architect worked part-time in the blooming metropolis of Los Angeles. Our fair city was enjoying a tremendous economic boom thanks to entertainment, the automobile and the petroleum industry (i.e. Hollywood and El Segundo). In a span of only 4 years, Wright conceived a uniquely monumental, adaptable and efficient textile block design which redefined impressive architecture. (Think the Arizona Biltmore or the Eastern adaption - the Imperial Hotel in Japan.)

“What about the concrete block?” Wright has asked. “It was the cheapest (and ugliest) thing in the building world. It lived mostly in the architectural gutter as an imitation of rock-faced stone. Why not see what could be done with that gutter rat? Steel rods cast inside the joints of the blocks themselves and the whole brought into some broad, practical scheme of general treatment, why would it not be fit for a new phase of our modern architecture? It might be permanent, noble beautiful.”

Located at 2605 Glendower Avenue in Los Feliz, designed in in 1923, and built in 1924; the 4 bedroom, 4 1/2 bathrooms home with separate chauffeur’s quarters designed for clothier Charles Ennis and his wife Mabel. The entrance fondly recalls Falling Water and other Wright designs where the entrance is obscured, inviting visitors to interact with the house from the beginning. It is trademark Wright that the entry space is dark, with a low ceiling, allowing a dramatic entrance into the light and bright space.

Like the Biltmore, the Ennis House has a long horizontal loggia complimenting the pool and connecting the public and private rooms. The Ennis House design features soaring, sunlit interiors enhanced by architectural details such as soaring wood-beamed ceilings. You will delight in the elevated dining room with a massive fireplace, anod feel so special in the living room complimented by Wright’s signature prairie-style leaded art glass, mitered windows. The windows are an abstract pattern of the wisteria plant, and are the last art glass windows Wright designed for any residence—he later used wood with cutout designs.

It has been said that the glass-tile mosaic fireplace in the living room is one of only four ever created and the last remaining intact example in any Wright residence. The flowing multi-tiered floor plan offers an exclusively designed kitchen, pantry, guestrooms, master suite; as well as an upper terrace with guest suite and Japanese garden. The home is sits on approximately three-quarters of an acre, and offers extraordinary city, ocean and mountain views.

Architectural details include high wood-beamed ceilings, art-glass windows, a window-lined loggia looking out on the pool and a glass mosaic-tile fireplace in the living room. There is a billiard room, bar, library, den, office, pantry and basement. Chauffeur’s quarters, with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchenette and living area, are above the four-car garage.

From afar, the Ennis House can be seen from Vermont Avenue, looking north, completing its ridge on the southern reaches of the Santa Monica Mountains. The Ennis House is the fourth and most monumental of buildings by Wright in northern Los Angeles constructed mostly of interlocking pre-cast concrete blocks - “textile block” style.

The signature design is said to be inspired by the symmetrical reliefs of Mayan buildings in Uxmal. You will notice it as the prominent relief ornament on the property’s textile blocks, Be sure to note that the textile block pattern is almost symmetrical along the diagonal.

“The textile block method of construction consisted of stacking concrete blocks three inches thick, cast in molds, next to and atop one another without visible mortar joints. In all but the Millard House, thin concrete and steel reinforcing rods were run horizontally and vertically in edge reveals ‘knitting’ the whole together. A double wythe was common, held together by steel cross ties, the cavity air space serving as insulation.” - William Allin Storrer. The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright: A Complete Catalog.

“You see, the final result is going to stand on that hill a hundred years or more. Long after we are gone it will be pointed out as the Ennis House and pilgrimages will be made to it by lovers of the beautiful from everywhere.” — Frank Lloyd Wright in a letter to The Ennis’, 1924

It is noble, and quite beautiful, but permanent? Remember, we mentioned an estimated $15 million in repairs. The Ennis House is on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2005 list of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.

How can this be?

A statement on the Ennis House Foundation Website - http://www.ennishouse.org - reads:

“After serious consideration, the Ennis House Foundation has decided to place the Ennis House on the market for sale to a private owner. This decision stems primarily from the fact that the house needs more stewardship at this point than a small nonprofit can sustain.

“One of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most ambitious homes, the 1924 Ennis House in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles has been put up for sale. The home on a hilltop has a striking composition of patterned and smooth concrete blocks that give it the apeparance of an ancient temple. The private foundation that has been restoring the home has put it up for sale for $15 million. The LA Times reports that Eric Lloyd Wright, the architect’s grandson and a member of the nonprofit Ennis House Foundation’s board,has said that the board decided that private ownership would be the best way to save the house. The house was donated to a nonprofit trust in 1980 and the foundation began its restoration in 2005. The home had sustained damage both from rain and the 1994 Northridge earthquake.”

**

Legend has it that even before its completion the Ennis House was marked by structural instability. Concrete blocks cracked, and lower sections of the walls buckled under tension.

Additionally, the use of decomposed granite from the site to color the textile blocks introduced natural impurities to the concrete mix, and combined with air pollution caused premature decay. To add to the mess, attempts to apply a protective coating caused additional decompositions issues. The situation was compounded with the 1994 Northridge Earthquake and the record rainfall of the 2004-2005 rainy season. After the rains the building was briefly red-tagged (no entry into the building) and as of late 2005 was still yellow-tagged (limited entry) with significant damage to the retaining wall at the southern rear of the building. The Trust has estimated that it could cost $5 million just for stabilization costs, and $15 million for full restoration.

In 2006 a FEMA grant was issued as well as a $4.5 million construction loan through First Republic Bank which restarted restoration efforts. The project included a new structural support system, restoration/replacement of damaged blocks, restoration of windows and a new roof. Restoration was completed in 2007; however no announcement has been made regarding access to the public. The Ennis is currently being offered for sale to a private owner at a listed price of $15,000,000, listed with Hilton & Hyland and Dilbeck Realtors locally, and Christie’s Great Estates internationally. The SoCal Investment Real Estate Group at Sotheby’s International Realty is prepared to assist you in the purchase of the property. Please contact Jodi Summers at 310. 392.1211 or jodi@jodisummers.com for more information.

The residence has changed hands seven times since it was sold by Mabel Ennis in 1936, following Charles’s death in 1928. Various owners have contributed their individual imprints, but the original design has remained largely intact. The house has not been lived in since 1980, when the Browns (the then residents) donated it to the Trust for Preservation and Cultural Heritage. It was used to film a number of pictures, including Blade Runner, Grand Canyon and The House on Haunted Hill, as well as TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twin Peaks and South Park.

After building the Hollyhock House in 1921, his first project in California, Wright set out to create 4 more homes in the Los Angeles area using his new “textile block” system of cast concrete blocks. In addition to the Millard House and Freeman House shown above, he built the Storer House at the west end of Hollywood Boulevard (bought and restored in the 1980s and still in private hands), and the Ennis House. Unlike the other textile-block houses, interior details of the Ennis House, such as light fixtures, were not designed by Wright. Wright’s relationship with Mrs. Ennis was strained and Wright left the project before completion.

Please note that the house has a conservation easement to protect it from demolition or insensitive alteration, and to guide future restoration, preservation, and maintenance efforts.

**

Sources:

.http://www.ennishouse.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennis_House

http://www.architectstudio3d.org/AS3d/about_ennis.html

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6963247

http://www.behav.org/Student_essay/ex/pics/mexico_uxmal_01.jpg

http://www.dallas.net/~lalo/uxmalpyr.jpg

http://www.santamonicapropertyblog.com/?p=485

http://www.sacredsites.com/americas/mexico/images/Uxmal_Door_V_51kb.jpg

http://leblog.exuberance.com/city_los_angeles/

http://static.newworldencyclopedia.org/thumb/1/10/Maya_glyphs.jpg/200px-Maya_glyphs.jpg

http://walterintheuk.blogspot.com/

http://leblog.exuberance.com/images/Ennis-House-Los-Angeles-Frank-Lloyd-Wright.jpg

http://www.ennishouse.org/index.htm

http://www.ennishouse.org/htmls/textileblocks.htm

http://www.luxist.com/2009/06/19/frank-lloyd-wrights-ennis-house-up-for-sale

http://www.christiesgreatestates.com/properties/view_73141/

http://www.steinerag.com/flw/Books/Ennis.htm

http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/hotprop/la-hmw-hotpropennis2-2009jul02,0,6967697.story

http://laist.com/2009/06/13/laistory_the_ennis_brown_house.php

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/wrightennis/bridgewhole.jpg

http://www.greatbuildings.com/cgi-bin/gbi.cgi/Ennis_House.html/cid_1036095063_EnnisBrownExterior.html

http://www.greatbuildings.com/cgi-bin/gbc-drawing.cgi/Ennis_House.html/Ennis_House_Plan.jpg

http://www.whatimseeing.com/2008/12/03/ennis-brown-house/

http://www.prairiemod.com/prairiemod/2007/08/ennis-house-mea.html

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LOS ANGELES IS A BETTER PLACE THAN PARIS TO BUY INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE

LOS ANGELES IS A BETTER PLACE THAN PARIS TO BUY INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE

by Jodi Summers

Sacre bleu! Los Angeles is a better real estate…according to Forbes.com. In a recent top 10 article called World’s Best Places For Real Estate Buys, Ten cities investors will target in 2009 our beloved Los Angeles was #7 – after San Francisco and before Paris.

Washington D.C. topped the list this year, thanks to the proposed $1 trillion swell of government spending. As Forbes notes, “At present, D.C. has the lowest unemployment rate in the country–4.1%, compared to the 7.2% national average. With President Obama’s stimulus package recommending $1 trillion in new spending, it’s unlikely government jobs–and those they support–will be leaving the District anytime soon.”

Not many investors were looking at L.A. in 2008, as we were hammered by the subprime crisis and a massive volume of foreclosures. As we all know, our perceived property poverty curtailed spending and our whole local economy limped along. We were 19^th on the 2008 Forbes World’s Best Places For Real Estate Buys, so this 12-point rise is a huge boost for real estate morale.

“It’s all about perception,” notes a local investor. “If people perceive Los Angeles is a good value, then it becomes a good value, and prices grow strong.”

Good news for local property owners - sales surged 102%in the residential sector, according to Radar Logic, a derivatives firm, and Forbes notes that this wave “has that market hinting at a bottom.”

The 2009 Top 10 Best Places For Real Estate Buys

1. Washington, D.C.

2. London, U.K.

3. New York, N.Y.

4. Tokyo, Japan

5. Shanghai, China

6. San Francisco, Calif.

7. Los Angeles, Calif.

8. Paris, France

9. Houston, Texas

10. Singapore

Please note Forbes’ rankings come from the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate, a research association that tracks where member investors are finding the best opportunities around the world.

Get the whole story @ http.//www.forbes.com/2009/01/21/investment-obama-realestate-forbeslife-cx_mw_0121realestate.html?partner=alerts

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BE HAPPY IF YOU OWN REAL ESTATE!

BE HAPPY IF YOU OWN REAL ESTATE!

LOS ANGELES WINS AS THE MOST OVERPRICED HOUSING MARKET IN THE U.S.

By Jodi Summers

Los Angeles is good at topping lists…best weather, prettiest people, throws the best party… recently, Energy Star noted that we topped the list of energy efficient cities. Now, the news is more infamous than famous…like being named to the worst dressed list. Forbes says that Los Angeles is the most overpriced city in the United States, citing “…bloated housing prices, lofty living costs and unemployment rates among the highest in the nation…”

But the weather is perfect here…and traffic will improve… and there is good news for those looking to buy property. According to reliable sources like DataQuick information services, our home prices are leveling off, noting that the median price paid for a home was unchanged from January and February, “indicating that the market may be exploring price floor levels.”

It has been reported that a total of 19,486 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 27.9 percent from 15,231 for the prior month, and up 52.1 percent from 12,808 for March 2008, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego.

“…Go to Southern Cal, for example, we’re seeing a floor in pricing,” confirms Jeffrey Mezger, chief executive of builder KB Home. “We don’t see prices going down right now, which is a good thing, because then you can set a baseline.”

Truth be told, government- insured, FHA mortgages made up 37.8 percent of all purchase loans in March, up slightly from a revised 37.5% in February and up from 10.1% in March last year. And, regionwide, foreclosure resales accounted for 55.4 percent of March’s resales activity.

The median home price in the Los Angeles metro area has dipped from $525,000 to $319,000 over the last two years, Forbes noted that we still face one of the least affordable housing markets in the country. According to the NAHB/Wells Fargo’s Housing Opportunity Index, only New York, Long Island, N.Y., and San Francisco are more expensive.

Our housing issues are an over-the-top version of what’s happening, to lesser degrees, in the rest of the nation. Our unemployment rate is around 10.3%, right up there with Riverside. All of those new, mid-range housing projects are like fallow because of the lack of work.

“The unemployment [in Southern California] is definitely driven by the housing bust,” says Lee. “Prices are collapsing, but if you’re looking at buying a house, it’s still expensive.”

And that’s why we head up the over-priced housing market. Pathetic thing is, Chicago is second on the list; their weather sucks and the lifestyle is less dynamic than other list toppers like Miami (3) and New York (4)…

“For the average professional, New York’s premium is not as high as you’d expect, given the cost of living,” says Al Lee, director of Quantitative Analysis at PayScale.com. “The premium for a software developer in New York is actually less than it is in Seattle, and about the same as it is in Atlanta.”

Forbes came to this conclusion after analyzing earnings potential and living expenses in the 50 largest continental U.S. metropolitan statistical areas and metropolitan divisions–geographic entities defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use by federal agencies in collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics. Sounds official and impressive, doesn’t it.

Sources

http://www.dqnews.com/Articles/2009/News/California/Southern-CA/RRSCA090415.aspx

http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/06/cities-expensive-top-lifestyle-real-estate-overpriced-cities_print.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-homes5-2009may05,0,2234983.story

http://www.socalmultiunitrealestateblog.com/?p=361

BE HAPPY! LOS ANGELES IS NOT ON THE LIST OF PLACES WHERE HOMEOWNERS HAVE THE MOST DEBT

by Jodi Summers

Sure, we’re all complaining about our decline in wealth, and the drop in real estate values. The bright side is if you’ve owned for any length of time, you’re still satisfied. In many parts of the Los Angeles area, real estate saw a 400% rise in a 10-year period – to have prices drop by a third is still 266% better than 12 years ago.

Other cities in California have a lot more to complain about, according to Forbes list of Where U.S. Homeowners are Most in Debt. Seven metro areas of the Forbes Top 10 made the list, including Modesto, Riverside, Yuba City, Merced, San Diego, Stockton and Vallejo.

In these cities, underwater mortgages–one on which more is owed than the home is worth–comprise an average 44% of outstanding mortgages, compared to the 29% nationwide average.

Modesto ranks as the worst city for homeowner debt. Household wealth has been reset to 2001 levels while housing prices have declined 57% since the peak in 2005, and 30% in the last year alone. This has dunked 81% of the last five years’ mortgages underwater.

Want to know more?

Check ou the whole story @ http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/11/homes-equity-debt-lifestyle-real-estate-mortgage-underwater_slide_2.html?thisspeed=25000

www.performermag.com/wcp.tourstop.0711.php

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BUY SOON – THE SOCAL REAL ESTATE MARKET IS STABLIZING

By Jodi Summers

Good news Southern California – our real estate market seems to be leveling off. DataQuick information services reports that May prices in Southern California rose for the first time in nearly two years – they were up approximately $2,000 a property from April, bringing the median Southland home price to $249,000.

“We appear to be in the early stages of the market gradually tilting back toward a normal balance of sales across the home-price spectrum,” noted DataQuick President John Walsh.

This theory is confirmed by Jerry Nickelsburg, senior economist at the UCLA Anderson Forecast, who noted that prices are “about right” in historical terms and the soft market is attracting would-be buyers, but not yet enough of them to completely turn the market upward.

“A lot of people are on the sidelines who are saying it may be beneficial to wait another month or so,” Nickelsburg observes. “The big implosion in housing is running out of steam,” Nickelsburg said.

Obviously with a median home price of $249,000, the six-county Southern California region shows a wide variety in sales and price changes from May 2008 to now.

From April to May Orange County’s median was up $30,000, or 7.9%, in one month’s time to reach $410,000. San Diego County’s median price rose $5,000 from April, to a $295,000 average - or $15,000 above the recent low point in January. Los Angeles and Riverside were unchanged at $300,000 and $180,000, respectively. San Bernardino County, ground zero of the housing meltdown in Southern California is still lagging, with average prices dropping an additional $1,500 loss to sink to $137,000, - down 45.3% from May 2008, the worst showing in the region.

The month-to-month rise in prices – the first since July 2007 – does not necessarily reflect an improvement in value. DataQuick noted that the change was a result of fewer low-cost foreclosure homes selling and an increasing number higher-priced, move-up homes closing escrow.

Sales below the $500,000 mark represented 83% of all sales, down from 84.8% in April.

Total sales regionwide stood at 20,775, up slightly from April’s 20,514 and 22.8% higher than year-ago levels. Foreclosures, which have dominated the Southern California market for months, slipped percentage-wise in May to represent 50.2% of all resales, down from a peak of 56.7% in February.

Analysts report that foreclosure activity is down because lenders have foreclosed on fewer properties in recent months – either because they are unable to cope with the volume of distressed homes or because they were working with owners to modify the mortgages. Government-sponsored moratoriums and extended notification schedules also played a part.

Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist of the California Association of Realtors, notes that the current buyers’ market has, “led to multiple and overbid offers by investors and first-time buyers, eager for deals.

“It looks like to me the low-and moderate-end of the distressed market is starting to show signs of bottoming,” Appleton-Young observes. “There’s just no inventory.”

Her latest count showed only a 2.5-month supply statewide of single-family resale homes priced below $300,000. By contrast, there was a 17.2-month supply of homes above the million-dollar mark.

“We have a bifurcated market,” Appleton-Young reveals, “distressed on the one hand and a higher-end, coastal, jumbo-financed market on the other hand.”

In recent weeks, interest rates have risen above the 5% level from their lows of about 4.5% on 30-year, fixed-rate loans.

If mortgage rates continue to rise, it could prolong this lull in the housing market. UCLA’s Nickelsburg concludes, “You can expect the housing market to take longer to recover, because home prices will have to fall to compensate for the additional cost.”

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jun/18/1b18housing213947-regional-home-prices-end-2-year-/

http://uniontrib.com/more/socalprices

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