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Palos Verdes High School Principal Nick Stephany has resigned his position as Principal of Palos Verdes High. PVHS Principal Nick Stephany will resign his position June 30. Photo courtesy Palos Verdes High School. Loading... Palos Verdes High School Principal Nick Stephany will resign his post, effective June 30, according to an email sent to PVHS parents Tuesday night. "I have accepted the position as principal of Foothill High School in the Tustin Unified School District," Stephany wrote in the email. "This is a very exciting opportunity for me to learn from [...]

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Board of Education voted 4-0 (board member Larry Vanden Bos was absent from the meeting) for an increase in parcel taxes on May 9, and property owners living within the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District will see their parcel tax assessment go from $374 to $382.23, an $8.23 difference. Measure M, a parcel tax initiative passed by voters in November 2011, included language adjusting the tax periodically for inflation (per the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers California). The increase will bring [...]

Interest rates inched up a bit again this week.The following are excerpts from the newsletter on interest rates published by HSH Associates : " There was precious little good economic news to be seen this week, but interest rates firmed anyway, as stock markets continue to find reasons to push higher. As the economy oscillates, so go mortgage rates. A spate of poor economic news pushes them down; optimism about the economy lifts them again. The Fed even remotely considering expanding or extending QE3 presses them lower while remarks and expectations [...]

The following article was published a few days ago in the Los Angeles Times: "Demand for move-up and high-end homes surgedas mortgage interest rates remained near historic lows. Investors remained a significant force, and for-sale inventory remained well below last year's levels, underscoring the competitiveness of the market. "You are seeing strong demand against very limited supply, and that's putting upward pressure on prices," said Esmael Adibi, director of Chapman University's A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research. The median price for a Southland home last month reached $357,000, up 3.3% [...]

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY May Your Special Daybe Filled With Love & Laughter The following is the history of Mothers Day as stated by the History.com: In the years before the Civil War (1861-65), Ann Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia helped start €œMothers €™ Day Work Clubs € to teach local women how to properly care for their children. These clubs later became a unifying force in a region of the country still divided over the Civil War. In 1868 Jarvis organized €œMothers €™ Friendship Day, € at which mothers gathered with [...]

Interest ratesmoved up slightly last week.The following are excerpts from the newsletter on interest rates published by HSH Associates : "The first week of the new year brought perhaps half a deal on resolving the "fiscal cliff", but many hard choices and fights are yet to come. The deadline for the spending "sequester" -- automatic cuts in government outlays -- was kicked down the road by two months, when there will also be a battle over raising the nation's debt limit. Stock markets cheered the news of a deal, and if [...]

B-17 Flying Fortress: B-17 flights from Zamperini Field in Torrance are available Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; price/reservations: b17.org or call 800-359-6217. Walk-through ground tours from 2-5 p.m. today through Sunday; $10 per adult, $20 per family; free for active military, veterans and children 8 and under. Sponsored by EAA. Torrance Airport, 3301 Airport Drive., Torrance. Free parking at Torrance Airport General Aviation Center and Robinson Helicopter The B-17 Aluminum Overcast, a WWII era bomber, revisits Zamperini Field in Torrance this weekend. (Steve McCrank/Staff Photographer)For more information about [...]

Following is my summarized real estate market report for the 1st quarter of 2013 for the Palos Verdes Peninsula and South Bay Los Angeles areas. I have been fortunate to sell over $13 million of properties on behalf of my clients in 2012, earning me a spot in the top 15 of over 600 agents in Remax Estate Properties, and selection to the Remax Hall of Fame as well as the Remax Platinum Club. The current real estate market is dominated by the extremely low level of inventory of homes available [...]

Both Palos Verdes Peninsula High and Palos Verdes High ranked high in the latest Washington Post High School rankings. The Washington Post ranked schools state-by-state, and nationally, based on the number of college-level tests given at a school in 2012 divided by the number of graduates that year. Also considered were the percentage of students who come from families that qualify for lunch subsidies and "equity and excellence" (E&E), the percentage of graduates who passed at least one college-level test during their high school career, called equity and excellence. Palos Verdes [...]

The Peninsula Center area of Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills Estates (Area 175 in map below) had the following real estate market activity during the1st Quarter of 2013 : Properties Sold: 1 ( This low number of sales is due to the very few properties listed for sale ) Address Sales Price BR BA Sq.ft. $/Sq.ft Yr.Blt. MLS# Sold Date Days on Mkt. 27631 Warrior DR $925,000 4 2.00 1,701 $543.80 1959 SB12150504 1/24/13 37 Average Sales Price of homes sold during1st quarter: $ .9 million Properties for Sale as [...]

The Silver Spur area of Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills Estates (Area 176 in map below) had the following real estate market activity for single family residences during the 1st Quarter of 2013 : Properties Sold: 13 Address Sales Price BR BA Sq.ft. $/Sq.ft Yr.Blt. MLS# Sold Date Days on Mkt. 5454 Eau Claire DR $690,000 3 2.00 1,460 $472.60 1958 S12109793 1/25/13 103 27773 Hawthorne BL $700,000 3 2.00 1,442 $485.44 1959 S12057236 2/28/13 170 5560 Littlebow $764,300 3 2.00 1,472 $519.23 1958 PV12144301 2/05/13 56 5902 Waukesha PL [...]

The Eastview area of Rancho Palos Verdes ( area 177 in map below) had the following real estate market activity for single family residences during the 1st Quarter of 2013: Properties Sold: 15 Address Sales Price BR BA Sq.ft. $/Sq.ft Yr.Blt. MLS# Sold Date Days on Mkt. 1858 Trudie DR $525,000 3 2.00 1,205 $435.68 1950 SB13028120 3/29/13 33 1501 W Toscanini DR $535,000 4 2.00 1,624 $329.43 1974 SB12131303 1/31/13 5 1909 Jaybrook DR $645,000 3 2.00 1,548 $416.67 1950 SB13018056 3/14/13 41 1851 Redondela DR $649,900 4 3.00 1,876 [...]

The Crest area of Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills Estates( area 174 in map below )had the following real estate market activity for single family residences during the 1st Quarter of 2013 : Properties Sold: 8 Address Sales Price BR BA Sq.ft.$/Sq.ft Yr.Blt .MLS# Sold Date Days on Mkt. 29500 Oceanport RD $840,000 3 3.00 2,052 $409.36 1964 PV12152219 2/01/13 24 28414 Seamount DR $1,080,000 4 3.00 2,135 $505.85 1971 SB12146751 1/28/13 138 28611 Covecrest DR $942,000 4 2.00 2,096 $449.43 1966 PV13025226 3/19/13 12 5814 Scotwood DR $1,090,000 4 [...]

Interest rates moved down again a bit this week.The following are excerpts from the newsletter on interest rates published by HSH Associates : "The drumbeat of mediocre economic news continues, and interest rates have settled, with fixed rate mortgages sliding to a place near their lowest levels of 2013. Overall, it seems to us that the economy is neither growing much nor declining much, but rather treading water at a moderate pace, probably a GDP of somewhere between 2 percent and 3 percent at the moment. That would be a fine [...]

The inventory of unsold condos and townhomes on the Palos Verdes Peninsula of 34 units has shrunk significantly over the last 12 months, and is down approx. 24% compared to a year ago. The average number of sales per month over the last 3 months of 10 units per month is the same as the comparable period a year ago. There are 17 units in escrow at the end of March. Click here for a current search for condos and townhomes available for purchase on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.. Mar. 13 [...]