At least some homeowners in the area have good news this week, as 89,000 of them have had their property tax loads reduced. Now even celebrities are suffering foreclosure. These stories and more in this week’s real estate roundup.
Celebrity Real Estate
Melissa Etheridge has sold her six-bedroom house in Hidden Hills for an undisclosed price. Etheridge purchased another house in Hidden Hills for $5.1 million last year, so she no longer had a need for this property. The house, located at 5209 Saddle Creek Road, was listed at $4.995 million.
Former major league star and author of the steroid expose Juiced Jose Canseco (seen here in his less glorious days as a member of the Long Beach Armada) has become perhaps the most-famous person to have suffered foreclosure in the current crisis. Canseco, who supposedly tried to extort former teammates in the past year, may be hurting for money, but said that he decided to walk away from his mortgage because it didn’t make financial sense to pay it any longer. Canseco bought the foreclosed home, located at 18011 Karen Drive in Encino, in 2005.
Pamela Anderson had planned to have a massive garage sale this past Sunday, but was stopped by a Malibu city ordinance. She had gone so far as to set up a website to advertise the sale, with pictures of the items available, most of them expensive-looking furniture. The pictures can still be seen, although the front page just says that the sale has been cancelled.
News
Finally some good news for homeowners: 89,000 L.A. area homeowners will have their property tax assessment reduced. The average reduction is $684, not a bad amount of money, but nothing when compared to the average reduction in value of $68,000.
Countrywide, one of the companies most identified with the subprime crisis, has had its debt downgraded to junk bond status by Standard & Poor. Bank of America, who had a deal in place to buy Countrywide, has stated its refusal to assume any of Countrywide’s debt, the first step in a possible renegotiation of the deal.
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke slashed interest rates further this week and spoke in favor of government intervention to stabilize the housing market. He also stated a need for lenders to reduce the principals on loans to prevent foreclosure. The unfortunate thing about the recent interest rate cut is that it has not affected interest rates for normal people. The cut has been a bailout of sorts for lenders, who now have cheaper access to funds, which they are still lending at the same rates.
The Center for Economic Policy Research released a report estimating the total loss of wealth from the housing crisis at a staggering $6 trillion in just the past year. This total comes out to $85,000 per homeowner.
Events
The Rose Bowl flea market returns this Sunday at 9 AM. Known to be the best flea market in L.A., the Rose Bowl flea market takes place the first Sunday of every month. Admission is $8.
Four historic bungalows are on display on the Escondido Mothers Day home tour, also on Sunday. The four homes were all built between 1910 and 1940 and are excellent examples of the California bungalow style. The tour runs from 11 AM to 4 PM and costs $12.50 in advance, $15 day of.
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