Thursday, December 17, 2015

Chinese Buyers are Buying Real Estate Across American and Beyond

The New York Times recently reported that Chinese buyers have been buying luxury high end apartments in London wealthier neighborhoods in Vancouver Canada and luxury condos in New York City and larger home in the Silicon Valley. These buyers are buying higher end properties in major cities which doesn’t affect the overall real estate market, but it does in more dense populated areas like New York and San Francisco. This pushes residences in these cities to pay more for living space and pushes up rent. These Chinese purchases make up a small amount of the overall sales in the United States. This is a disproportion of their money in high end properties according to the NT Times. They have bought one in every fourteen homes in the $1million plus range in New York. They are also buying land in the Antelope Valley. There are real estate agencies and marketing firms promoting fee simple properties in the Antelope Valley. Land has no maintenance needs so the buyer can sit and wait and just pay the property taxes. Larger condo’s need maintenance, HOA fees and security. The Chinese government doesn’t allow long term ownership of property in China. It is usually for a period of years, so property can’t be passed on to children. Additionally, in China land has to be development. This is partly why there are ghost cities in China, since the land was bought but requires development in a period of time in order to retain the property. This is why land within the path of growth that can be pass onto offspring is so enticing. The Chinese stock market and government cannot be trusted to provide security in an investment. This new overseas investment is helping property values in Lancaster and Palmdale especially closer in property to development.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Los Angeles County Approved Plan Centennial Plan but Little Development

Tejon Ranch Co.which is traded on the New York Stock Exchanged (NYSE:TRC) reported last year that the Centennial Development plan was approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, by a 4-0 vote. The meeting last year was a full house in Lancaster with standing room only and at least 50 people expressing their opinions. Almost immediately after the discourse the Board of Supervisors approved the plan unanimously. The centennial plan will initially encompass 23,000 homes over time with their own fire department, medical services and environmentally friendly community. On paper it looks great and will look to be a real nice place to live as it will include hiking trails and involve a great view of the mountains just east of the grapevine. This Tejon Ranch Co.'s master planned community called Centennial is included in the Antelope Valley Area Plan as part of the Economic Opportunity Area where future development would be directed for Los Angeles County. If you have been to LA County it looks like most of LA was poorly planned to begin with. This plan appears to have promise, but no development or digging has taken place just yet. Tejon Ranch Co. has three plans according to their website. One being Centennial, another is called Grapevine and the third is Tejon Mountain Development. Grapevine will be located at the base of the foothills in the San Joaquin Valley portion of the ranch near the Tejon Ranch Commerce Center. This is near the huge IKEA warehouse. They intend to have a large community as part of the overall plan. The Tejon Mountain Village will be a community of homes largely undisturbed by mankind and it looks to be a small set up of nice homes overlooking the mountain range with access to Hwy 5 not far away, or just an hour from LA central. The website says Tejon Mountain Village will be a new conservation based retreat designed to live in harmony with nature, and continue the legacy of this storied place for future generations. Well there has been a lot of talk and discourse, but if it is all approved then lets get this nice new communities started. This can only improve the western part of Antelope Valley.