December 23, 2008 – Daily Brief *

Housing prices fall, but sales up again in November: The Southland Regional Real Estate association reports today that sales of existing SCV homes increased by 55 percent in November to 172 transactions over November 2007 levels. Median sales price, however, continued its slide, down 23 percent in November to $400,000. Condos, however, were off both price and sales wise, down some 30 percent since October 08 with a median price that fell 33.5% to $210,000. The Daily News says that the $700 billion bailout (of which half has been used, I think) isn’t really helping the credit markets with “lenders changing underwriting rules everyday.” Once bitten twice shy! Oh also, if you live in Valencia Valley, RedFin says your home is in a neighborhood that has among “the most reduced-price listings” in all the LA region.
From the spoke too soon files: Two Lawsuits emerge against Mayo: The familiar environmental SCOPE group and another group calling itself the Community Advocated for Healthcare SCV intend “legal action to overturn the City’s recent approval of the Henry Mayo Campus expansion,” according to KHTS and have filed lawsuits. Lynne Plambeck of SCOPE says she doesn’t want to “prevent the construction of much needed additional hospital beds or other medical facilities,” but wants responsible development in the future.hmmm. The Signal says Mayo is “saddened” by the news of two lawsuits.
And just like that, Mayo issues press release warning all Americans to watch their health: A pretty standard “watch your health!” press release issued the same day the lawsuits were announced. Or maybe I’ve had too much eggnog. Link
If the Cities of LA and Santa Clarita can’t kill Las Lomas, maybe the Bush Economy can: With the economy in the toilet, unemployment at 8+ percent in California, the stock and credit markets still shaky, and real estate continuing to nosedive, how could something like the 5,500 home Las Lomas development ever be built? That’s the gist of this good Daily News article, which outlines some of the history of the controversial Newhall Pass development and discusses possible next steps by the Las Lomas Land company.
Buck “The Generous One” McKeon hands out more inaguration tickets: He already gave 40 of his 198 tickets to AOC students here in town, now he’s given another 32 tickets to some school in the 25th District. That means he’s given 72 of his 198 tickets away. Says the Santa Clarita Mayor-turned 8-term Congressman: “I realize giving so many of the inaugural tickets away to students is a bit unusual, but this is a historic time for Americans as we swear in the country’s first African-American president.” McKeon says he’s warned the students about the cold temps in DC. As long as he’s feeling so generous, I’m going to write him an email and offer him my considerable writing talents & blog in exchange for a pair of tickets. So long objectivity, hello DC!
What’s your Christmas tradition? KHTS reports on different staff members’ traditions on and before Christmas. This year, I’m giving Campell’s Soup stock certificates; it’s where the smart money is going what with the economy and all. Speaking of Xmas, it looks like we may have a wet Christmas day according to The Signal.
No plans to install additional red light cameras, City says: Interesting article in today’s Signal on those notorious but somewhat effective red light traffic cameras. The City has installed several of them around town and has seen a marked reduction in the number of broadside, injury, and rear-end collisions (though that’s the old correlation does not necessarily equal causation logic flaw). What’s not in the report is how much the City of Santa Clarita has netted after the thousands of red light runners pay their $381 fee. The Signal says “little is left for the city” after the fees go to fund maintenance of the cameras. But in June, the LA Times reported Santa Clarita was one of only a few cities in LA County that have “netted tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars above camera operating costs.”
Not SCV related, but must read anyway: As a geek, Fry’s once was my Mecca. I’d make a pilgrimage to the Burbank or Woodland Hills store, brave the throngs of deal-starved acolytes, and escape with a relic, usually some piece of technical wizardry and wonder. Well, I stopped going to Fry’s awhile ago, mostly because it’s a hassle and the store routinely re-shelves returned items. Now I have another reason to never go back: a Fry’s VP of Merchandising was arrested “in front of stunned coworkers” after the IRS alleged that he pilfered & embezzled some $65 million from vendors and merchants to feed his gambling habit in Vegas. This guy even had a red Ferrari on a $220k a year salary! Wow! LA Times
I Heart ponders the New Year: He offers tips and suggestions for making a better, happier, and healthier you, and for that matter, a better Santa Clarita. One of the ways you can help Santa Clarita? Resolve to run red lights. Smile.