Meet today's buyer: Schwarzenegger buys 25 acres of ranchland

Worth noting: The governor of California (pictured), widely seen as having good business sense in his own affairs, has been a recent buyer of land. The L.A. Times' Hot Property reports Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, recently bought 25 acres of ranchland in Carpinteria, in Santa Barbara County. Price tag was about $4.7 million.

Also worth noting: An L.A. Times analysis of beach communities shows median sales prices are slipping -- down 8.9% from August -- though are still outperforming the rest of metro L.A.  Sales are down as well: 149 sales in February in 18 beach ZIP codes, down from 209 in February 2007. The biggest seaside price declines: In Huntington Beach, where median prices in one ZIP have dropped from $1.2 million in 2007 to $827,000 in February, a dip of 31%.

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo Credit: AP

Comments

[William Jones]

There goes the neighborhood!

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

If only there is some way we can recall the housing bubble.

Pass the petition. I will sign it.

[TheBeefIsPrime]

IS ARNIE CRAZY? THAT LAND WILL BE WORTH NO MORE THAN $50K ONCE PRICES MORE ACCURATELY REFLECT INCOMES FOR THE CARPINTERIA REGION

[sheila]

well, now we know where we can put the next toll road. traffic through Carp can be really heavy, and i'd like an alternative. thanks, arnie!

[peter m]

"Also worth noting: An L.A. Times analysis of beach communities shows median sales prices are slipping -- down 8.9% from August -- though are still outperforming the rest of metro L.A. Sales are down as well: 149 sales in February in 18 beach ZIP codes, down from 209 in February 2007. The biggest seaside price declines: In Huntington Beach, where median prices in one ZIP have dropped from $1.2 million in 2007 to $827,000 in February, a dip of 31%."

18 'affordable' beachside zips showed 149 sales in feb, That is 8.27 homes sold per zip. Owners of beach homes are withholding homes from the market due to shaky economy and declning LA prices. 149 sales is a miniscule % of total LA/OC inventory of sold and for sale homes in the the two- county area. It is a blip and means statistcally nothing. If economy keeps tanking look for another 10-15% decline in prices in 'affordable" beach zips later in 2008 and 2009.

The LA times should have listed the 18 zips on a chart for comparison purposes. I know for a fact that LB coastal zips are tanking especially the shoreline condo market. Lots of oversupply and the LB dwtn shorefront zip 90802 not at all favorable as a hi-end beach community though it has an attractive(on the surface)urban water front fun zone.

Huntington beach has tons of condos/ townhomes still overpriced. HB may be a relative bargain compared to the other zips but $ 500,000 for a 2.2 condo waaaay too high. Maybe for a large 4-2 3000+ sq ft SFH that price might be OK if next to the beach.

Venice will be declining hard within a year as would be sellers hold back waiting to unload their rediculously overpriced condo-like houses on teeny stamp lots for top $. Sharp declines toward end of 2008 and into 2009.

[E]

Arnie already cashed out at the peak in Pacific Palisades I believe...regardless...he can pretty much afford to buy depreciating assets at will. How many of the rest of us can say the same?

[peter m]

"Also worth noting: An L.A. Times analysis of beach communities shows median sales prices are slipping -- down 8.9% from August -- though are still outperforming the rest of metro L.A"

I have problems with the LA Times analysis
of hi-end sales in LA/OC 'affordable" beach zips. Almost half of the total feb sales were in the 3 huntington beach zips which indicates an even more distorted minsiciule % of sales in the LA beach zips. basically only a tiny handful of wealthy folks(less than 100) or more likely well- heeled specu-vesters are buying rare LA SFH coastal properties to no doubt do teardowns and /or refurbish into posh palatial beach mansions.

Very unhealthy distorted LA market tilted toward a miniscule % of wealthy buyers and not at all representative of the overall LA RE picture.

[Politically incorrect]

Lets hope he has a nice knoll to sit on while, under his "leadership," he watches the rest of the state go down in flames.