Sunday Morning: Inventory Bloat in LA, Greenspan’s Housing Obsession

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Sunday morning roundup, before the kids wake up: Big Brad Garrett, the sitcom actor, is selling his big place in Hidden Hills. Brad by the numbers: He’s asking $9.495 million for a 10,300-square-foot-compound, and he’s 47 and a bit taller than 6-foot-8.

The morning’s must-read is Gayle Pollard-Terry’s takeout on why the LA housing market is mixed right now. Reasonably-priced entry-level homes are attracting multiple bids right away, but inventory is bloating: The Realtors’ own index says there is a 9.6-month supply of unsold houses on the market in LA, up from a 5.2-month supply a year ago.

Do you really need earthquake insurance? In a story refreshingly free of nannyish financial advice (‘You need insurance against everything!’) The Times points out that only about 1 in 8 Southern California homeowners has quake insurance (it’s expensive and deductibles are high).

Why does the headline say Greenspan has a housing obsession? Well, because he’s semi-retired and can do anything he wants, and he chooses to spend his time crunching numbers on how much consumer spending was generated by extracting cash from home equity. His conclusion: 2.1% of all consumer spending in 2005. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but the economy would really miss it if went away.

Lastly, Why are closing costs so high? In part because title insurance is a big ripoff, at least according to a government report cited here by columnist Kenneth Harney. The study concludes only 10% to 20% of what you pay for ‘title insurance’ actually goes to insurance premiums.

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