Biz media contradict each other about LA real estate

Orange County Register real estate columnist Jon Lansner notes that the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal wrote differing reports about the Los Angeles real estate market on Tuesday’s papers.

The Times wrote, “Median sale prices fell by 13% in Beverly Hills in April, compared with the same month last year. Rancho Palos Verdes dropped 18% over the same period, while Newport Beach’s 92660 ZIP Code took a 34% hit, according to DataQuick Information Systems. Experts say these areas and others are catching up with price declines that struck first in outlying suburbs such as the Antelope Valley and the Inland Empire, where many first-time home buyers purchased their properties with sub-prime loans.”

The Journal wrote, “The only notable area of strength: high-end real estate. L.A.’s Westside, home to affluent neighborhoods such as Brentwood and Westwood, ‘tends to be more insulated because this is where people with money want to be,’ says Madison Offenhauser, regional director in Los Angeles for Keller Williams Realty. Median prices in Brentwood are up 16%. The Hollywood Hills, up 26% to a median price of more than $2.1 million. Rancho Palos Verdes and the Palos Verdes peninsula, up 17%.”

Read more here. Lansner’s readers believe the local paper got it right and The Journal missed the boat.