Jerry & Rachel Hsieh Real Estate Team - Keller Williams Realty in Los Angeles

Jerry & Rachel Hsieh Real Estate Team - Keller Williams Realty in Los Angeles
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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

How Our Miracle Mile Got Its Name

Circa 1940 view of the Miracle Mile sign on Wilshire Boulevard, with the May Company department story in the background. Courtesy of the Dick Whittington Photography Collection, USC Libraries.
Circa 1940 view of the Miracle Mile sign on Wilshire Boulevard, with the May Company department story in the background. Courtesy of the Dick Whittington Photography Collection, USC Libraries.
In 1921, the stretch of Wilshire Boulevard now known as the Miracle Mile was a 20-foot-wide dirt road, flanked by oil wells and barley fields. Today, the strip is a busy thoroughfare, home to museums, the La Brea Tar Pits, and a collection of historic Art Deco structures. The story of the Miracle Mile's stunning transformation from cow path to commercial artery -- told through selected images from the region's photographic archives -- is part of the larger narrative of L.A.'s decentralization, as electric railways and automobiles encouraged sprawl and drained the downtown retail district of its vitality.
The Miracle Mile was the brainchild of real estate developer A.W. Ross, who in 1921 paid $54,000 for 18 acres of land along the south side of Wilshire Boulevard between La Brea and Fairfax avenues. Ross envisioned a retail district there, subdividing the land and offering it to suitors for as little as $100 a front foot, but the tract's commercial potential appeared bleak to many. Retail was then concentrated in the downtown business district, and with no electric railway line along Wilshire, the remote location was inaccessible to many Southern Californians. Ross' detractors dismissed the tract -- surrounded by grain fields, a primitive airport, and an active oil field where asphalt seeped up from the ground -- as "Ross' bean patch" and "Ross' folly." Ross pressed forward with his plan anyway.
"I went to men of wealth," he told the Los Angeles Times in 1939. "They turned me down; I was visionary. Even friends who had the means to help me laughed and wished me luck."
But the developer foresaw how the rise of the personal automobile would change settlement patterns and upset the balance of power between downtown and what were then the city's hinterlands.
"When I started out to plan the Miracle Mile I saw Beverly Hills gaining ground in the west, Hollywood progressing to the north, business forging nearer from the east and fine residences going up in the south," he told the Times.

Located within a four-mile drive of the city's most fashionable residential districts, Ross' subdivision boomed as L.A.'s population continued to swell and fill in the automobile suburbs west of downtown. First, a structure consisting of two small storerooms rose sometime before 1924 at the corner of La Brea and Wilshire. Then, a two-story building at Cochran and Wilshire appeared, followed by a fruit market at Curson and Wilshire.
It was not until 1928 that the Miracle Mile acquired its glamorous appellation. Ross originally gave his development a much less-memorable name: Wilshire Boulevard Center. According to a story -- perhaps apocryphal -- Ross was describing his vision for the development when a friend interjected: "From the way you talk, A.W., one would think this is really a miracle mile." The name, with its obvious promotional value, stuck.
But what finally signaled the Miracle Mile's success was the 1929 arrival of a Desmond's inside the Wilshire Tower at Dunsmuir Avenue. With three downtown locations, the department store validated Ross's foresight by placing its fourth branch miles west of the central business district.
When it opened on March 15, 1929, the Wilshire Tower fronted an entire city block and featured an 11-story Art Deco tower. Desmond's main entrance opened onto the sidewalk, but many shoppers entered through the rear; in a nod to the automobile's ascendency, the store's owners built a large parking lot behind the store and reserved additional space for future parking needs.
Other retailers soon followed Desmond's to the Miracle Mile, and they, too, provided ample parking for their customers behind their buildings. Silverwood's arrived in September 1929. In a move laden with symbolism, Coulter's shuttered its downtown location in 1938 and opened its Miracle Mile store at Hauser and Wilshire. Two years later, the May Company opened its new Wilshire Branch at Fairfax.

By 1930, when this aerial photo was taken, buildings fronted much of the Miracle Mile. This view looks west down Wilshire Boulevard. The oil field on the top-right is the present-day site of Park La Brea. Courtesy of the Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
By 1930, when this aerial photo was taken, buildings fronted much of the Miracle Mile. This view looks west down Wilshire Boulevard. The oil field on the top-right is the present-day site of Park La Brea. Courtesy of the Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
1929 view of the newly-opened Desmond's department store. Courtesy of the Security Pacific National Bank Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
1929 view of the newly-opened Desmond's department store. Courtesy of the Security Pacific National Bank Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
The May Company under construction, circa 1939. Courtesy of the Dick Whittington Photography Collection, USC Libraries.
The May Company under construction, circa 1939. Courtesy of the Dick Whittington Photography Collection, USC Libraries.
Coulter's, circa 1939. Courtesy of the Title Insurance and Trust / C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, USC Libraries.
Coulter's, circa 1939. Courtesy of the Title Insurance and Trust / C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, USC Libraries.
Circa 1940 view of the Miracle Mile, facing east. Courtesy of the Dick Whittington Photography Collection, USC Libraries.
Circa 1940 view of the Miracle Mile, facing east. Courtesy of the Dick Whittington Photography Collection, USC Libraries.
Circa 1950 view of the Miracle Mile. Courtesy of the Security Pacific National Bank Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
Circa 1950 view of the Miracle Mile. Courtesy of the Security Pacific National Bank Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.
In the 1960s, Santa Claus would greet shoppers, some of whom arrived by bus, in the Miracle Mile. It was one of several gimmicks that Miracle Mile retailers employed in the face of new competition from suburban shopping malls. Courtesy of the Metro Transportation Library and Archive. Used under a Creative Commons license.
In the 1960s, Santa Claus would greet shoppers, some of whom arrived by bus, in the Miracle Mile. It was one of several gimmicks that Miracle Mile retailers employed in the face of new competition from suburban shopping malls. Courtesy of the Metro Transportation Library and Archive. Used under a Creative Commons license.
Eventually, the Miracle Mile was overwhelmed by the same forces of change that once made it a success. Increasing reliance on the personal automobile and uncontrolled sprawl ushered in the age of suburban shopping malls, which challenged older, automobile-oriented retail districts like the Miracle Mile just as the Miracle Mile had previously challenged the pedestrian-oriented retail district downtown. Unable to compete, retailers once at the vanguard of L.A's decentralization relocated, leaving vacant storefronts and shabby discount stores in their place.
By the 1980s, the mile-long stretch of Wilshire Boulevard was in need of a second miracle. Even the president of the Miracle Mile Residential Association compared the area to "a slum." Representing local residents, he called on the city to declare the Miracle Mile a historic district, hoping the designation would spur revitalization and attract interest in the area's many elegant Art Deco and Streamline Moderne structures. But property owners rejected the call, and despite preservationists' protest, many cherished buildings have since fallen to make way for apartment complexes.
Instead, it was museums and office centers that injected new life into the Miracle Mile. Patrons flocked to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), which had moved to Hancock Park in 1965. Across the street, the former Orbach's department store found new life in 1994 as the Petersen Automotive Museum, and four years later the abandoned May Company building at Fairfax and Wilshire reopened as LACMA West.
With LACMA, the Petersen, and other museums -- including the Craft and Folk Art Museum, the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits, and the Architecture and Design Museum -- the Miracle Mile has gained a reputation today as L.A.'s museum row. Meanwhile, publications like Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Los Angeles Magazine now call the district home. While the Miracle Mile can no longer claim to be the city's premier retail district, the area once derided as "Ross' bean patch" remains fertile commercial ground.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Southland Home Sales Decline As Prices Continue To Rise


For sale sign. (credit: Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California’s surging housing market stumbled last month with home sales falling as strapped homeowners refused to sell, fewer investors bought and the median sales price rose to $385,000, its highest level in more than five years, a real estate research firm reported Wednesday.

There were 21,608 houses and condominiums sold last month in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. Sales were down 6.2 percent from May and 2.1 percent from June 2012. That year-over-year decline was the first for any month since September.

“Investor and cash buyers are starting to back off a bit,” said John Walsh, president of DataQuick.
At the same time, the median sales price of $385,000 was the highest for any month since April 2008. It was up 4.6 percent from May and 28.3 percent higher than the June 2012 figure, according to the real estate information company.

The median price has regained more than half of the value it lost after the market crashed from the peak of $505,000 in the spring and summer of 2007.
However, there are signs that the “blistering pace” may slow, Walsh said.
“If mortgage interest rates shoot up again then that’s virtually a given,” he added.
Middle- and high-end home sales did well while lower-cost properties languished. About a third of sales were for $500,000 or more, up a bit from May, while the number of homes that sold for less than $200,000 dropped.

“Weak demand isn’t the culprit,” DataQuick said in a statement. “The main problems are a fussy mortgage market and an inadequate supply of homes for sale. Many owners can’t afford to sell their homes because they still owe more than they are worth, and lenders aren’t foreclosing on as many properties, further limiting supply.”
About 16 percent of sales were short, meaning the price was less than what was owed on the property. That was the lowest level in nearly four years, DataQuick said.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Bankrate: Mortgage Rates Hit a 2-Year High


/PRNewswire/ -- Mortgage rates rebounded following a better-than-expected jobs report, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate rising to 4.66 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.28 discount and origination points.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20040122/FLTHLOGO)
To see mortgage rates in your area, go to http://www.bankrate.com/funnel/mortgages/.
The average 15-year fixed mortgage increased to 3.75 percent, while the larger jumbo 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 4.82 percent. Adjustable rate mortgages moved higher also. The popular 5-year adjustable rate jumped to 3.63 percent, the highest in more than two years, while the 10-year adjustable hit 4.07 percent.
This week's jump in mortgage rates, which more than wiped out last week's retreat, came after the release of the monthly employment report. Job growth for June that exceeded expectations, coupled with upward revisions to April and May payrolls, were evidence of the type of improvement the Fed will need to see to begin curtailing their bond purchases. And for that reason, we saw further increases in both bond yields and mortgage rates, to levels above where they were following Ben Bernanke's late June press conference.
As recently as May 1st, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 3.52 percent. At that time, a $200,000 loan would have carried a monthly payment of $900.32. With the average rate currently at 4.66 percent, the monthly payment for the same size loan would be $1,032.47, a difference of $132 per month for anyone that waited just a little too long.
SURVEY RESULTS
30-year fixed: 4.66% -- up from 4.48% last week (avg. points: 0.28)
15-year fixed: 3.75% -- up from 3.62% last week (avg. points: 0.26)
5/1 ARM: 3.63% -- up from 3.48% last week (avg. points: 0.33)
Bankrate's national weekly mortgage survey is conducted each Wednesday from data provided by the top 10 banks and thrifts in the top 10 markets.
For a full analysis of this week's move in mortgage rates, go to http://www.bankrate.com/.
The survey is complemented by Bankrate's weekly Rate Trend Index, in which a panel of mortgage experts predicts which way the rates are headed over the next seven days. There is no clear consensus this week, with 42 percent of respondents expecting mortgage rates to remain more or less unchanged. One-third predict that rates will continue to rise, while 25 percent forecast a retreat in mortgage rates over the coming week.
For the full mortgage Rate Trend Index, go to http://www.bankrate.com/RTI
To download the Bankrate Mortgage Calculator & Mortgage Rates iPhone App 2.0 go to https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bankrate-mortgage-calculator/id551454062?mt=8.
About Bankrate, Inc.
Bankrate is a leading publisher, aggregator, and distributor of personal finance content on the Internet. Bankrateprovides consumers with proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and objective personal finance editorial content across multiple vertical categories including mortgages, deposits, insurance, credit cards, and other categories, such as retirement, automobile loans, and taxes. The Bankrate network includes Bankrate.com, our flagship website, and other owned and operated personal finance websites, including CreditCards.com, Interest.com, Bankaholic.com, Mortgage-calc.com, CreditCardGuide.com, InsuranceQuotes.com, CarInsuranceQuotes.com, InsureMe.com, and NetQuote.com. Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of nearly 600 local markets in all 50 U.S. states,Bankrate generates over 172,000 distinct rate tables capturing on average over three million pieces of information daily. Bankrate develops and provides web services to over 80 co-branded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the Internet such as Yahoo!, CNN Money, CNBC, and Comcast. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to over 500 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/11/5559766/bankrate-mortgage-rates-hit-a.html#storylink=cpy