Sales Pace

Morning light revealed pitched tents and scattered sleeping bags in front of the sales offices of luxury builder Woodbridge Pacific Group. Attracted by a dozen new Huntington Beach homes touted as "starting in the low 1,200,000s," about 15 hopefuls had camped out for days. They were waiting for a chance to get their names on a list to buy into the first phase of a new subdivision. One would-be buyer had flown in a friend from Las Vegas to hold his place in line. Another shopper had hired a pair of men to wait in 12-hour shifts.

Though there were several media preview events earlier this week, Toyota officially kicked off the first of two media days at the 2013 New York International Auto Show on Wednesday morning by introducing the all-new Highlander crossover SUV. Well, mostly new. Though the Highlander wears handsome new sheet metal and grows in size noticeably, the heart of the crossover remains largely unchanged. PHOTOS: Toyota's 2014 Highlander That means the 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine will be standard and come with a six-speed automatic transmission and front-wheel-drive only.

Key retail outlets in Southern California report the "We Are the World" charity single is selling at a faster pace than any other record in memory. Each of a dozen stores contacted by The Times on Monday said that initial orders of the record sold out over the weekend and that the single was selling at five to 10 times what the normal No. 1 single registers in a week.

In an effort to speed sales of its already fast-moving condominiums and increase demand for its rental units, Irvine Co. is offering residents of its apartments as much as $3,000 credit if they purchase one of the company's condos. Details of the plan were mailed late last month to residents of the giant land developer's 11,000 apartments in Irvine, Newport Beach and Tustin. Though this is the first time that the Irvine Co.

With most of the major automakers having reported their U.S. sales for February it looks like the industry posted its best annualized sales rate in four years. Most estimates place the sales rate north of 14.5 million vehicles and possibly up to 15 million vehicles. Automakers and analysts credit an improving economy, easier consumer credit and people replacing aged vehicles after delaying purchases through the recent recession. But some are asking if the robust pace of the last month will continue.

There is evidence of renewed strength in the Coachella Valley's condominium market, according to Laura Temple of Temple Realty, who sees similarities between the sales heyday of the 1970s and today's market in the desert. "It was not unusual for new projects in the desert areas to chalk up hundreds of sales at an opening," she said. "And we're seeing much of the same thing happening today at the Villas at Desert Falls in Palm Desert. . . ." Since J.F.

Sales of existing homes climbed to their highest level in almost six years in August as declining interest rates and stable home prices continued to lure buyers, a real estate trade group said Wednesday. The National Assn. of Realtors said sales of previously owned single-family homes soared by 9.2% in August to an annual rate of 3.43 million units. It was the fastest sales pace since a rate of 3.48 million units in November, 1979.

Many of the nation's biggest retailers reported Thursday that they had strong sales gains in September as the arrival of fall weather put consumers in the mood to buy clothes. But other store owners said they continued to struggle last month as Americans shied away from making more expensive purchases. "They were pretty good . . . better than we would have expected," said Jeffrey Edelman, a retail industry analyst with Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., of the stores' overall results. Monroe H.

California's hot real estate market is expected to cool slightly this year as home sales take a breather from last year's torrid pace, and construction of apartments and office projects drops sharply. Experts say home prices in the state should rise about 6% this year--almost twice the expected inflation rate, but less than the 9% increase posted in 1986.

TS Industries Inc., a Huntington Beach company that makes a number of products used to insulate buildings, said its fiscal 1987 first-quarter net earnings of $360,000 were up 34% increase from $269,000 a year earlier. Sales for the period ended Dec. 31 more than doubled to a record $15.1 million from $6.9 million a year earlier. The company said that the increased earnings were due primarily to the expansion of the company's plant in Massachusetts and to the acquisitions of Won-Door Corp.