Santa Clarita Real Estate News

There's going to be something Magic about the fourth annual Valley Economic Summit taking place next month.

Former Los Angeles Laker star and Basketball Hall of Famer Earvin "Magic" Johnson will deliver the keynote address at the event on May 6.

In addition to his stellar basketball career, Johnson has quite a reputation as a savvy entrepreneur.

As usual, some of the San Fernando Valley's leading economic and real estate experts will weigh in on some critical issues facing the area in these tough times.

This half-day conference will also include a presentation by Dale Bonner, secretary of the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. He will provide an update on the impact of the federal economic stimulus plan on the state.

The summit opens with an overview of the 2009 Economic & Market Outlook, and the 2009 Valley Economic & Real Estate Report.

I expect the panelists to conclude that the commercial sector could be in for a bit of a rough patch while the residential market is showing signs of improvement. The California Association of Realtors reports on March activity on Monday and like other reports, this one should show big sales gains from a year ago and price stabilization since January.

The event is 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sheraton Universal Hotel, Universal City. It is co-presented by the Valley Economic Alliance and California State University, Northridge.

The cost toattend is $125. Information is at www.TheValley.net or by contacting Cheryl Shramm at 818.379.7000 or cshramm@economicalliance.org.

Home construction declines moderating

New-home construction in Southern California is still bumping along the bottom, according to the California Building Industry Association.

Last month the number of building permits issued to developers in the region fell 33 percent from a year ago to 1,142 permits. And they dropped 6 percent from March.

The report covers Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Imperial counties.

The year-over-year drop is significant, but it is half of what previous year-over-year decreases have been, Richard Lambros, CEO of the Building Industry Association of Southern California, said in an e-mail.

This might be a signal that the market is finally flattening out.

"Builder confidence is increasing, and we remain hopeful that the state's tax credit for new home buyers, which has been enormously popular so far, will encourage buyers to take advantage of lower home prices and low interest rates," he said.

Last month there were just 611 single family house permits pulled, down 40 percent from a year ago but up 34 percent from February.

CAW pact good news for Chrysler

Chrysler LLC finally got some good news Friday night and it may help the company stave off bankruptcy.

The company and the Canadian Auto Workers forged a tentative agreement that could save the financially strapped manufacturer $240 million annually. The agreement keeps wages at $35 an hour Canadian. But the union gave up break time, bonuses, tuition reimbursement, some supplemental pay and semiprivate hospital rooms.

In exchange, the CAW got Chrysler and potential partner Fiat S.p.A. to agree to keep its two Chrysler assembly plants open even if bankruptcy is unavoidable, according to the Web site AutomotiveNews.com.

Rebranding of Countrywide

Bank of America is holding a conference call Monday morning to discuss the rebranding of all the Countrywide Home Loan operations.

The bank had already installed Bank of America Home Loan signs on Countrywide facilities. But they then covered those with cloth signs bearing the Countrywide logo.

But on Friday evening the Countrywide branch in Warner Center sported the new Bank of American sign.

The bank's purchase of the once high-flying mortgage giant closed last summer.

Courtest of greg.wilcox@dailynews.com