It seems the collapse of the Axis development downtown has caused more than one of our intrepid readers to investigate the cause and do some fancy calculating:
Glad someone had some huevos to mention that the Standard Pacific excuse/story sounded about as fishy as the Fisherman's Mkt on Central Avenue. Doubt many people will be spending $600-$800 per foot for downtown LA lofts/condos for quite a while, given you only get 4 walls, a kitchen and potentially one, maybe two, baths, plus mostly blank walls, yet you have the right to pay your mortgage, your monthly maintenance fees, your insurance and property taxes, plus most of the time an additional fee for a parking place, whereever that may be, proximity notwithstanding. All for the right to live where no grocery stores exist in any great variety, and most retailers are playing the wait-and-see game before committing to the market.Ooh! Fun with data! So what areas command the highest prices per square foot? Apparently an ocean view spikes the price: Malibu, Santa Monica and West LA top the list at over $1,000/sq ft. Most of the downtown zip codes are hovering at half the price, lending cred to the chorus of readers decrying the Axis asking prices.In time, yes, but not at these prices, at least not now.
Take a look at the linked chart put out by dataquick to see just how relatively few areas in all of LA County get over $600 per foot for a single-family residence(SFR). It loses much value at those numbers. Rentals for that project will become the way, and that may also be the case for many of the other developments on the horizon.
http://www.dqnews.com/ZIPLAT.shtm
·Spinning Axis: Not Buying the Excuses [Previously on Curbed LA]
·SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HOME RESALE ACTIVITY [DQ News]