Wednesday, May 30, 2012
With California Adventure growth, Disney now No. 1 O.C. employer
ANAHEIM – The pair went in a group to Disneyland in 2007, and a romance broke out.
Now, James and Beth Silverman, recently married, are moving their relationship across the esplanade to join the staff launching the updated Disney California Adventure next month.
"When this opened up, it was amazing how many of the puzzle pieces just fit," said Beth Silverman, 36.
The Silvermans are among the 3,000 new employees added at the Disneyland Resort – 2,300 at California Adventure – in the biggest hiring spurt of any Orange County company in years. The additions make Disney the largest employer in the county with 23,000 workers, passing the previous No. 1 – UC Irvine (21,676 workers).
"What that is doing is clearly helping people in Orange County," said Mary Niven, vice president of Disney California Adventure.
On June 15, Disney California Adventure debuts the completion of its five-year, $1 billion makeover that includes the new 12-acre Cars Land and a new entrance, called Buena Vista Street, the park's version of Disneyland's Main Street, U.S.A.
(Disney hikes admission prices again.)
CONSTRUCTION JOBS
That makeover created jobs as well: an average of 1,700 jobs annually over the project's half-decade.
Clark Construction Group got the bid as the general contractor for Cars Land, the largest chunk of Disney's project, in October 2008 as the economy was souring. Around the same time, just down Katella Avenue, major construction in Anaheim's Platinum Triangle, where a massive residential and commercial swath was to rise, went on an indefinite hold.
An average of 230 Clark employees have worked on site daily since the groundbreaking almost three years ago. Altogether, Clark employees logged 1.3 million hours on the 12-acre Cars Land performing jobs that included electrical and iron work.
"It was a fun one (project) to be involved in. It would have been good in a good market. It was particularly good in a bad market," said Gregory Zinberg, Clark's senior project manager for Cars Land.
More than 350 Southern California businesses, vendors and artisans worked on the project, from making neon signs to designing tile to providing sprinklers and sheet metal.
DISNEY WORKERS
Last week, Disney was finishing the hiring of the last 40 or so permanent workers. Entry-level jobs start at $9 an hour. Managers and administrators will make up to $100,000 annually. For every position, Disney received a dozen applications.
"We were able to be very picky," said Niven, the California Adventure vice president.
About half of the 3,000 new jobs are full time.
"They are hiring people right off the street as full time, which means benefits," said Sandi Ecklund, president of Workers United Local 50, which represents 4,500 Disney food and beverage employees. "It's the first time they've done that in a few years."
The influx of jobs has helped Orange County attain one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state, said Lucy Dunn, president of the Orange County Business Council.
"No small part of that is because of the resort," she said.
NEW EMPLOYEES
The Silvermans are longtime annual passholders who live in Anaheim. Disney hired both as part-time bartenders at Carthay Circle Theatre, which will have a restaurant and private lounge in the key building of Buena Vista Street.
The Silvermans are making ends meet with a variety of jobs: Beth works as a makeup and mosaic artist. James has done work behind and in front of cameras on TV shows, having trouble at times finding jobs in recent years. Both had bartending experience.
James Silverman, 40, stumbled upon the bartending position in February while looking for other Disney production jobs on the company website. Both decided to apply.
"I've never felt more like I'm in the right place ever in my life," Beth Silverman said.
Written by SARAH TULLY / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
BREAKING: Mortgage rates hit new low (again)
The Freddie Mac survey showed the 30-year FRM averaged 3.79% for the week ending Thursday — the lowest rate ever recorded — inching down from the prior week's record average of 3.83%. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.61%.
“The European debt crisis overshadowed improving economic indicators for the U.S. and allowed Treasury bond yields and fixed mortgage rates to ease for another week,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist.
The 15-year FRM, a popular refinancing choice, averaged 3.04%, slightly falling from last week‘s record that averaged 3.05%. A year ago, the average rate for a 15-year FRM was 3.80%.
Five-year, Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 2.83%, up from 2.81% the prior week and down from 3.48% a year earlier.
And one-year, Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 2.78%, up from last week’s average of 2.73% and down from 3.15% last year.
Full article at HousingWire.com.
-- Justin T. Hilley
“The European debt crisis overshadowed improving economic indicators for the U.S. and allowed Treasury bond yields and fixed mortgage rates to ease for another week,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist.
The 15-year FRM, a popular refinancing choice, averaged 3.04%, slightly falling from last week‘s record that averaged 3.05%. A year ago, the average rate for a 15-year FRM was 3.80%.
Five-year, Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 2.83%, up from 2.81% the prior week and down from 3.48% a year earlier.
And one-year, Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 2.78%, up from last week’s average of 2.73% and down from 3.15% last year.
Full article at HousingWire.com.
-- Justin T. Hilley
Home Sales Surge in April
Spring home sales in San Diego County continued to heat up in April, DataQuick figures released Wednesday showed.
The county recorded 3,559 sales last month, the highest home-sale tally for an April since 2006, when 3,974 homes were sold. April’s count is almost 10 percent higher than March’s and 8.6 percent higher than April 2011.
March-to-April sales gains in San Diego County are not uncommon, but the growth this year has bested sales gains in 2011 and 2010.
Prices also rose locally. The median amount paid for a home in San Diego was $329,500, up 2.8 percent from March and up 2.4 percent from a year ago.
Values were mixed among the housing types. The median price for a single-family home, which makes up the bulk of the market, was $355,000 in April, up 1.4 percent but down 1.1. percent from April of last year.
Sales numbers for all of Southern California were not as strong. They were down 3.4 percent from March but were up 5.1 percent from a year ago, lifted by sales in coastal counties including San Diego.
Investor and cash-buyer activity continues to be “unusually robust,” John Walsh, president of San Diego-based DataQuick, said in a statement. That’s been the case for San Diego County.
Walsh also weighed in other factors that have contributed to what he calls an “abnormal market.”
“The jumbo-loan market has yet to recover, and the use of plain-vanilla adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, remains far below normal,” he said. “Lots of homeowners are ‘underwater,’ and the market remains awash in uncertainty over the economy, home prices, and the way lenders will handle the many thousands of homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments.”
Written by
Lily Leung
The county recorded 3,559 sales last month, the highest home-sale tally for an April since 2006, when 3,974 homes were sold. April’s count is almost 10 percent higher than March’s and 8.6 percent higher than April 2011.
March-to-April sales gains in San Diego County are not uncommon, but the growth this year has bested sales gains in 2011 and 2010.
Prices also rose locally. The median amount paid for a home in San Diego was $329,500, up 2.8 percent from March and up 2.4 percent from a year ago.
Values were mixed among the housing types. The median price for a single-family home, which makes up the bulk of the market, was $355,000 in April, up 1.4 percent but down 1.1. percent from April of last year.
Sales numbers for all of Southern California were not as strong. They were down 3.4 percent from March but were up 5.1 percent from a year ago, lifted by sales in coastal counties including San Diego.
Investor and cash-buyer activity continues to be “unusually robust,” John Walsh, president of San Diego-based DataQuick, said in a statement. That’s been the case for San Diego County.
Walsh also weighed in other factors that have contributed to what he calls an “abnormal market.”
“The jumbo-loan market has yet to recover, and the use of plain-vanilla adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, remains far below normal,” he said. “Lots of homeowners are ‘underwater,’ and the market remains awash in uncertainty over the economy, home prices, and the way lenders will handle the many thousands of homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments.”
Written by
Lily Leung
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Forecast Sees Annual 4% Rise in Home Prices
Average U.S. home prices - down by a third since 2006 and still falling - will rise almost 4% a year in the next 5 years, according to a new forecast.
Market watcher Fiserv sees prices stabilizing by summer's end and then climbing, quickly in some places until gains taper off. The forecast is based on an analysis of leading home price indexes.
Investors will drive much of the momentum, as they are now in cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix.
First-time and trade-up buyers will eventually follow.
By the time home prices stop falling, they'll be almost 35% below their 2006 peak, Fiserv says.
Separately, market researcher CoreLogic said Tuesday that U.S. home prices rose 0.6% in March from February, the first month-over-month increase since July.
Good affordability and declining inventories are key factors.
Conventional mortgage payments now account for just 12% of median family incomes vs. a historical norm of 20%, says Fiserv economist David Stiff.
The Fiserv forecast, done with Moody's Analytics, assumes steady economic growth with no major shocks. Markets hardest hit by foreclosures will show the biggest five-year increases in home appreciation, it adds.
Six of the 10 markets where annualized prices are expected to rise most over the next five years had price drops of more than 50% from their peaks.
Las Vegas, for instance, is 61% off its 2006 peak.
Meanwhile, Realtor.com says Florida has more cities than any other state that show the strongest signs of a housing recovery.
Each quarter, the real estate website assesses housing data, including changes in list prices, inventories of homes for sale and local economies.
Phoenix, Miami and Orlando are the top turnaround cities in its study, based on those markets' improvements in the first quarter compared with a year earlier.
Asking prices are up more than 20% in Phoenix and Miami, says Realtor.com. Inventories are down more than 40%.
Naples, Fla., and Boise are also climbing in the rankings.
New to the list of top 25 markets are Oakland and San Jose, which are benefiting from growth in the tech industry.
The continued performance of local markets will depend a lot on the economy as well as on how quickly lenders dispose of distressed homes, says Realtor.com CEO Steve Berkowitz.
Realtor.com is owned by Move, which operates a network of real estate websites.
By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
O.C. Listing Inventory Lowest Point Since June 2005
The Active Listing Inventory: The listing inventory dropped an additional 5% in the past two weeks.
The drop in the active listing inventory has displayed no signs of slowing, shedding an additional 310 homes in the past two weeks, now totaling 6,044. Since starting the year with 8,114, the active listing inventory has dropped 26% unabated, that's 2,070 homes. Eventually the housing inventory drop will slow, but it has shown no signs of such a change thus far. There are 46% fewer homes on the market this year compared to last year. Last year at this time there were 11,144 homes, 5,100 more than today. There are 35% fewer than 2010. Back then, even though demand was good due to the first time home buyer tax dropping by over 5,300 homes. Every range is experiencing a tighter inventory compared to last year. Below $500k, the inventory is down 56%. From $500k to $1 million, it is down 42%. From $1 million to $2 million, the inventory is tighter by 25%. Even homes above $2 million are experiencing fewer homes, 15% fewer.
The drop in the active listing inventory has displayed no signs of slowing, shedding an additional 310 homes in the past two weeks, now totaling 6,044. Since starting the year with 8,114, the active listing inventory has dropped 26% unabated, that's 2,070 homes. Eventually the housing inventory drop will slow, but it has shown no signs of such a change thus far. There are 46% fewer homes on the market this year compared to last year. Last year at this time there were 11,144 homes, 5,100 more than today. There are 35% fewer than 2010. Back then, even though demand was good due to the first time home buyer tax dropping by over 5,300 homes. Every range is experiencing a tighter inventory compared to last year. Below $500k, the inventory is down 56%. From $500k to $1 million, it is down 42%. From $1 million to $2 million, the inventory is tighter by 25%. Even homes above $2 million are experiencing fewer homes, 15% fewer.
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