Home Market

Prospective buyers should take a cautious approach, recommends financial analyst Jordan E. Goodman, author of "Everyone's Money Book on Real Estate" (Dearborn Trade Publishing, 2002). It is important, he said, not to look at the market but at your own place in it. How has the economy affected you? What happens if two incomes become one? What happens if you have children? Or have to move? There are plenty of benefits to owning a house: A house can build up equity over time.

Rita Rudner is applying her comedic talent to the sale of her Dana Point beach house, and the result is a spot-on parody of a home marketing video. Her husband, director-writer Martin Bergman , featured the Monarch Bay home in the 2011 film "Thanks," in which Rudner acted. Now Rudner may have her own hit on her hands with the YouTube parody . In the farcical four-plus minutes, she promises to include one free facial tissue with the purchase of the five-bedroom, five-bathroom house, which is priced at $8.975 million.

When Curtis Jang put his three-bedroom, two-bath South Pasadena home up for sale in mid-May, he was confident it would sell quickly. At $598,000, it was one of the least expensive houses on the market in a suburb known for its top-notch schools. And less than a month earlier, his next-door neighbor sold his house in four days and for more than the asking price. But after two weeks and no offers, Jang slashed his asking price to $550,000.

The Rohauer Library has been legendary among cinephiles for decades. The collection of more than 700 titles, acquired by the late film archivist-producer-distributor Raymond Rohauer, is a treasure trove containing the classic silent comedies of Buster Keaton, the shorts and epics of D.W. Griffith, experimental films from such directors as Man Ray, Rudolph Valentino's final film, Lon Chaney's 1925 version of "The Phantom of the Opera" and even a...

Builders are putting new home sales in Orange County into overdrive this weekend with at least 10 grand openings aimed primarily at the kind of buyers rarely seen in the 1990s--those looking to move up to bigger, pricier quarters. The lemonade stands are being installed again in the gated Coto de Caza community. In Newport Beach, potential buyers are putting their names on lists and getting financing just to bid on new homes.

For years, only the loftiest reaches of the San Fernando Valley boasted million-dollar homes. Not anymore. Last year, 159 homes in the Valley sold for $1 million or more, according to the Southland Regional Assn. of Realtors--up from 76 the year before. This year's million-dollar market also seems off to a roaring start, with 20 homes closing escrow for $1 million or more in April, the beginning of the home-buying season.

Playing catch-up with the recent run-up in home prices, rents in large apartment complexes posted strong gains across California in the third quarter, according to data to be released today. Rents rose an average of 6% in most of the state's biggest markets, Novato, Calif.-based research firm RealFacts said. Southern California remained the West's most expensive place to rent, and the San Francisco Bay Area saw the highest rent increases, RealFacts said.

Fueled by stock market profits and growing executive ranks, construction in the luxury home market is beginning to take off again throughout Southern California. Well-heeled managers who had put off purchasing larger homes during the housing slump of recent years are now pouring some of that newly minted wealth into flashy digs with amenities like wine and cigar rooms, libraries and home theaters.

After six long years, the home-building sector is back in business: sales of newly built residential homes are climbing strongly this year, according to a report by John Burns Real Estate Consulting. The economists at the Irvine firm highlight 25% growth in year-over-year new home sales, and an increase of 36% from the bottom, which was reached in 2011. The firm's data show that new home sales currently account for about 8% of the market, up from a low of 5% during the bust and down from about 16% during the heady days of the bubble.

AST Research Inc., the Irvine maker of personal computers, on Monday introduced an updated line of PCs for the consumer market. Rival Compaq Computer Corp. last week unveiled its own line of PCs for the home. Like the Compaq models, AST's Advantage! Adventure PCs are designed so that they can be set up and operated with minimal knowledge of computers. They range from $1,199 to $3,699.

Actress Patricia Heaton, who stars in “The Middle,” and her husband, actor David Hunt, have listed their home in Hancock Park for sale at $8.295 million. The Italianate Mediterranean-style estate, built in 1923, noted Pasadena-based architect Elmer Grey, who designed the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Pasadena Playhouse and the Huntington Art Gallery, among other landmarks. The grounds of more than acre include a wisteria-covered arbor, patios, a swimming pool with a changing room and bathroom, a paddle tennis court and expansive lawns.

After six long years, the home-building sector is back in business: sales of newly built residential homes are climbing strongly this year, according to a report by John Burns Real Estate Consulting. The economists at the Irvine firm highlight 25% growth in year-over-year new home sales, and an increase of 36% from the bottom, which was reached in 2011. The firm's data show that new home sales currently account for about 8% of the market, up from a low of 5% during the bust and down from about 16% during the heady days of the bubble.

Michael Jackson's last Los Angeles-area residence, a French chateau in Holmby Hills, is back on the market at $23.9 million — $400,000 above what it was listed for last summer. The pop icon was leasing the 17,171-square-foot mansion for $100,000 a month when he died there in 2009 after receiving the surgical anesthetic propofol for insomnia. His doctor, Conrad Murray, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in November and sentenced to four years in prison. "Crime scenes have a perceived stigma," said real estate consultant and appraiser Randall Bell, whose work has taken him to the homes of O.J. Simpson and Jon Benet Ramsey.

Singer-dancer Paula Abdul , who until recently was a judge on"The X Factor," has put her house in Sherman Oaks on the market at $1.899 million. The contemporary Mediterranean, built in 2000, features a grand entry with a double staircase, French doors opening to patio and pool areas, five bedrooms and 41/2 bathrooms. The master suite of the 4,679-square-foot house includes a fireplace and a balcony with canyon and city views. Abdul, 48, got her start as a Laker Girl.

China's vice president received a warmer welcome at an economic forum in Los Angeles on Friday than he seemed to get in Washington earlier in the week. But beneath the glad-handing surface were some of the same tensions that were on display when Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, on Tuesday. Biden took China to task on several fronts, including trade policies and intellectual property rights. Xi appeared in downtown Los Angeles with state and federal officials, including Gov. Jerry Brown and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and they all pledged economic cooperation.

Fashion executive and attorney Mandana Dayani and her husband, TV producer Peter Traugott , have listed their Sunset Strip area house for sale at $1.549 million. The two-story traditional, built in 1952, is designed for indoor-outdoor entertaining. The living room opens to a deck with city views on the main level and the lower level opens to a swimming pool and spa area. The master bedroom includes two walk-in closets, an office or den and a bathroom for a total of three bedrooms and 21/2 bathrooms in the 2,240-square-foot house.

PC maker Lenovo Group announced a $96.7-million quarterly loss as sales dropped in the global economic turmoil, and it said Chief Executive William J. Amelio resigned in a management reshuffle. Amelio will be succeeded as chief executive by Chairman Yang Yuanqing, Beijing-based Lenovo announced. Yang said the company, the world's fourth-largest PC manufacturer, would try to increase its dominance in its home market.

More than 40 industry leaders will offer their assessments of the Southland residential real estate market at the Apartment and Housing Outlook Conference Nov. 16 at the Century Plaza Hotel. The strength of the new-home market will be discussed by Albert Praw, senior vice president of Kaufman & Broad Home Corp.; Jonathan M. Jaffe, president of Lennar Homes of California; Michael Keston, chairman of Larwin Co.; and Nicholas Pappas, president of K. Hovnanian of California.

Australian rocker Chris Cester has listed his Hollywood Hills home at $1,135,000. The gated Spanish-style home, built in 1937, sits on a cul-de-sac. There are three bedrooms and two bathrooms, including a lower-level master suite with an office/den, a three-quarter bathroom, a separate entrance and deck. The house, surrounded by mature landscaping, has a two-car garage with extra storage and a two-space carport. Cester, 29, is a drummer and backup singer for the hard-rock band Jet. He also has written soundtrack material for "Spider-Man 3" (2007)

GENEVA — World Trade Organization judges on Monday ruled that the United States is violating global trade rules in using its controversial "zeroing" method to impose anti-dumping tariffs on shrimp from Vietnam. The decision by a three-member panel was the latest of a series in which zeroing — a framework for calculating duties on goods sold at less than their price on the exporter's home market — has been found illegal under WTO agreements. The panel said the United States "has acted inconsistently with provisions of the Anti-Dumping Agreement and the GATT" — key WTO accords — and said the U.S. should bring its calculation method into line with the two agreements.