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The real estate market in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes has been very active, with sales strong and inventory down . The level of inventory of homes for sale of56 homes is down significantly with the average number of homes for sale having decreased approx. 47% compared to the end ofFebruary last year. The average number of homes sold per month over the last 3 months of 30homes per month, is 30% higher than the comparable 3 month period last year. There are 35 homes in escrow at the end [...]

Frederick Olmsted Jr. and Charles Cheney Born in 1870,Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. was the son of the Central Park architect Frederick Law Olmsted. He took over the firm together with his stepbrother, John Charles Olmsted, when his father died in 1895, renaming it Olmsted Brothers. Frederick had two substantial impacts on the planning of the South Bay. The original developer of the City of Torrance, Jared Sydney Torrance, engaged him to create a master plan of the city in 1911. Olmsted€™s overall Torrance plan was innovative for its time. It divided [...]

The following is a list of the 11 homes sold in the City of Palos Verdes Estates during the month of February 2013: Address Sales Price Bd Bth Sqft $/Sq Yr. Built ML# Sold Date Days on Market 2700 Via Pacheco $1,400,000 4 3.00 2,483 $563.83 1962 SB13004488 2/21/13 29 1220 Via Zumaya $1,926,075 5 4.00 3,520 $547.18 1972 SB13018739 2/28/13 87 2020 Via Pacheco $2,025,000 5 5.00 4,207 $481.34 2002 SB12148545 2/06/13 206 2700 Via Victoria $2,260,000 5 6.00 5,930 $381.11 1987 V12113094 2/20/13 142 1601 Via Barcelona $2,375,000 5 [...]

The average number of properties listed for sale for the overall Palos Verdes Peninsula at the end of February is approx. 44% lower than the same time last year. Single Family home sales for the overall Palos Verdes Peninsula Real Estate Market have improved and the average number of homes sold per month of 50 over the last 3 months is about 28% higher than the comparable period last year . Pending sales in escrow have been strong , with 58 homes in escrow at the end of February, forecasting continuing [...]

The inventory of unsold condos and townhomes on the Palos Verdes Peninsula of 34 units dropped during February after rising last month, and is down approx. 31% compared to a year ago. The average number of sales per month over the last 3 months of 9 units per month is down slightly from a year ago. There are 18 units in escrow at the end of February, however. Click here for a current search for condos and townhomes available for purchase on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.. Make sure and scroll down [...]

The following article was published by Palos Verdes Patch: With only a five-vote margin, Measure B €”the second citizens' initiative ever placed on the Rolling Hills municipal ballot €”has passed, according to final, official results from the city released Wednesday evening. Measure B, which amends the city's sometimes-controversial view-protection ordinance, looked as though it may fail Tuesday night; however, late vote-by-mail and provisional ballots pushed it over the edge for a 5-vote win. The ayes took 50.3 percent of the vote, or 408 votes total. Measure B specifies that the view [...]

There has been a lot of local feedback as to the current problems with retailers on the Peninsula. There are numerous vacancies in both the Peninsula Center as well as the Avenue of the Peninsula shopping mall. Developers have never understood that they should be targeting value oriented retailers, not high end stores on the Peninsula. When I first moved here from Manhattan Beach 28 years ago, I remember then people referring to the Peninsula as "hamburger hill", meaning that the residents tended to be frugal, with many of them having [...]

If you haven't tried either the Lunada Bayhouse Restaurant or the new Alfredo Garcias restaurant, both located in the Lunada Bay Patio Building, you really need to give them a try. Lunada Bayhouse has an early bird menu from 4 to 6 pm that offers some great buys and great food. Alfredo Garcias is a great new addition to the restaurant scene. My husband and I especially love the shrimp tacos, the crab enchiladas, and the chile relleno . Check them out and support our local restaurants !! " Lunada Bayhouse [...]

Interest rates edged up just a bit last week .The following are excerpts from the newsletter on interest rates published by HSH Associates : "In what turned out to be a busier-than-expected week for markets, mortgage rates found some space to fall, breaking a climb from record lows set back in December 2012. The proximate cause of the fall in rates was investor concern over elections in Italy, which served to add more uncertainty into the Eurozone financial mess. Fearing the worst, stocks sold off and money was again plowed into [...]

Torrance Antique Street Faire 27February Today, February 27, 2013, 8:00 pm 1317 Sartori Ave, Torrance, CA | Get Directions » FREE The downtown Torrance Antique Street Faire is held on the 4th Sunday of every month in historic downtown Torrance. Over 200 sellers are set up in the streets with antiques, collectibles, furniture, vintage clothes, jewelry, toys, tools, pottery, arts and crafts, hoime decor and more...all on sale at bargain prices! Dave Brownlee and his crew of experts will be offering Antique Appraisals for only $3.00 per item. DJ Ozzie will [...]

Interest rates edged up just a bit last week .The following are excerpts from the newsletter on interest rates published by HSH Associates : "Nothing lasts forever, not even stimulative monetary policy. It may last for a while, perhaps even an extended period, but will eventually go away. The open question, unanswerable at the moment, is "when?" Minutes of the latest Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting released this week from the Fed's January meeting revealed at least this much: Even the Fed isn't sure. Recently, date-based targets for policy changes [...]

Palos Verdes Native Indians While first described in 1542 by Portuguese Explorer Juan Cabrillo, for almost three centuries the Palos Verdes Peninsula remained undisturbed and the exclusive domain of the local Indians, whose artifacts are still being unearthed. One of the richest treasure troves found in Palos Verdes, archaeologically speaking, bordered Torrance on a bluff overlooking Malaga Cove. USC and the Southwest Museum excavated the area in 1936 and 1937 and found thousands of artifacts. Eventually, archaeologists used radiocarbon dating and found the Malaga Cove site had been inhabited by humans [...]

Interest rates stayed about the same last week .The following are excerpts from the newsletter on interest rates published by HSH Associates : "A light calendar of new economic news gave investors time to ponder the state of affairs, allowing interest rates to wander fairly aimlessly for another week. The bump in rates may not be over, not as long as a firming economy continues to show itself, but there remain plenty of headwinds to stronger growth. Financial panic in European markets helped to lower American interest and mortgage rates at [...]

Photo courtesy CL!X Portrait Studios Proposals by Neil Simon Fri, February 15, 2013 - 8:00 pm Sat, February 16, 2013 - 8:00 pm Sun, February 17, 2013 - 2:00 pm Fri, February 22, 2013 - 8:00 pm Sat, February 23, 2013 - 8:00 pm Sun, February 24, 2013 - 2:00 pm This nostalgic play, set in the summer of 1953, delightfully recalls the last time the Hines family gathered at their retreat in the Poconos. The gathering brings romantic entanglements that coalesce one idyllic afternoon; Burt Hines, mid-50 €™s and convalescing [...]

Happy Valentines Day!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you and yours have a wonderful Valentines Day !!!!!!!!!!!!!! The History of Valentines Day is very interesting. St. Valentine lived in the 3rd century. One legend had it that Claudius II, the Roman Emperor, had outlawed marriage for all young men under a certain age because he felt that young single men made better solders for the Roman Empire than married men or men with children. St. Valentine, a Catholic priest, according to the legend, continued to secretly marry young men to their lovers in defiance [...]