Watch CAR’s chief economist, Leslie Appleton-Young, discuss the state the the California real estate market.

View the original at CAR.org.

Trulia released a new Buy vs Rent Index on June 3, 2010. Los Angeles scored a 17 on the Price-to-Rent ratio when comparing the cost to rent vs the cost to buy a 2 bedroom condo, apartment or townhome. This places Los Angeles on the lower to middle end of the scale, a position that signifies that Los Angeles may be a little bit more expensive to own than to rent but it still might make financial sense to purchase. The average price in this index to rent in Los Angeles was $2,460 and the average purchase price was $491,055. It is important to note that rent and average sale prices were determined exclusively by what is currently listed for rent and sale on Trulia.com.

Download the index from Trulia.com

View the original article and the responses of Trulia users here

By Greg Robb, MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Home prices in 20 major U.S. cities fell a not-seasonally adjusted 0.4% in January compared with December, according to the Case-Shiller home-price index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor’s.

Prices rose in only in Los Angeles in January. Only four cities had experienced rising prices in December.

The rebound in housing prices seen last fall is fading, said David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee. “We can’t say we’re out of the woods yet,” Blitzer said.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices rose 0.3% in January.

Prices were down 0.7% in the past year. This is the closest the index has been to a positive print since January 2007.

Compared with a year ago, prices were lower in 11 of the 20 cities, led by a 17.4% drop in Las Vegas.

In Charlotte, Las Vegas, Seattle and Tampa, prices hit new lows following the financial crisis.

For the 20 metropolitan areas in which repeat sales of homes are tracked in the Case-Shiller index, prices were down 32.6% from the peak in 2006. Prices are now back to levels seen in the summer of 2003.

Falling home prices have eroded Americans’ wealth. In response, households have increased their savings and cut back on spending.

View the original article on Marketwatch.com

SOLD

Sold 2/15-2/21: 38
Average Sold Days on Market: 93
Sold Property Type Breakdown: Condos (17) /Single Family (21)
Single Family High Price/Low Price: $7,995,000 / $450,000
Condo High Price/Low Price: $899,000 / $259,000

IN ESCROW

Total Pending: 467
Average Days on Market: 65
Pending Property Type Breakdown: Condos (259)/ Single Family (208)

Total Looking for Backup: 362
Average Days on Market: 85
Looking for Backup Property Type Breakdown: Condos (186)/ Single Family (176)

ACTIVE

New Listings 2/15-2/21: 157
New Listing Property Type Breakdown: Condos (67) /Single Family (90)
Single Family High Price/Low Price: $14,995,000 / $345,000
Condo High Price/Low Price: $6,500,000 / $219,000

Information based on the following areas:
(1) Beverly Hills — (2) Beverly Hills Post Office — (4) Bel Air – Holmby Hills — (5) Westwood – Century City — (6) Brentwood — (7) West L.A. — (8) Cheviot Hills – Rancho Park — (9) Beverlywood Vicinity — (11) Venice — (12) Marina Del Rey — (13) Palms – Mar Vista — (14) Santa Monica — (15) Pacific Palisades — (28) Culver City — (29) Westchester — (31) Playa Del Rey

Information provided by CLAWmls and deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

SOLD

Sold 2/08-2/12: 43
Average Sold Days on Market: 76
Sold Property Type Breakdown: Condos (16) /Single Family (27)
Single Family High Price/Low Price: $10,000,000 / $515,000
Condo High Price/Low Price: $780,000 / $318,000

IN ESCROW

Total Pending: 419
Average Days on Market: 62
Pending Property Type Breakdown: Condos (219)/ Single Family (200)

Total Looking for Backup: 319
Average Days on Market: 89
Looking for Backup Property Type Breakdown: Condos (162)/ Single Family (157)

ACTIVE

Total Active:1,991
New Listings 2/08-2/12: 152
New Listing Property Type Breakdown: Condos (79) /Single Family (73)
Single Family High Price/Low Price: $19,500,000 / $898,900
Condo High Price/Low Price: $2,150,000 / $240,000

Information based on the following areas:
(1) Beverly Hills — (2) Beverly Hills Post Office — (4) Bel Air – Holmby Hills — (5) Westwood – Century City — (6) Brentwood — (7) West L.A. — (8) Cheviot Hills – Rancho Park — (9) Beverlywood Vicinity — (11) Venice — (12) Marina Del Rey — (13) Palms – Mar Vista — (14) Santa Monica — (15) Pacific Palisades — (28) Culver City — (29) Westchester — (31) Playa Del Rey

Information provided by CLAWmls and deemed reliable but not guaranteed.