Big banks are leaving the building when it comes to the mortgage market
L.A. housing is expensive, sure. But are you paying too much for your rental? It would be reasonable to expect that the increases we’ve seen in rents and purchase prices in recent years would be roughly proportional throughout Los Angeles, but this is not the case. In actuality, purchase prices can soar while rents remain stable, and vice versa—even within the same neighborhood. We used standard 28 percent "front-end" debt ratios and a 20 percent down payment subtracted from the NAR’s median-home-price data to arrive at our figures. We've incorporated available information on property taxes and homeowner’s insurance costs to more accurately reflect the income needed in a given market. Without a significant ramp-up in new home construction and more homeowners listing their homes for sale, buyers are likely to see little relief in the form of slowing price growth in the months ahead. The housing market is overheating and you can sense it when you