Rising rents and increased demand for rental apartments has fueled the theory that from young Millenials to downsizing Baby Boomers, the recent housing crash has changed the way Americans want to live, shifted attitudes toward home ownership and created a strong new desire for big-city living. Rising gas prices have also pushed more home buyers closer to city centers.

(Read More: Why Women are Driving the Demand for Rental Apartments)

While 23 percent of survey respondents categorically reject the idea of living in a city center, others could be swayed if, again, offered the right amenities. These include walking/jogging trails, nearby parks and an outdoor swimming pool. That bodes well for planned, gated communities.

The age of the McMansion may be over, as money spent on space is reallocated to energy efficiency and home technology. Builders today will look to do more with less space, and buyers who can now afford to be picky about amenities, certainly will be.

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100491599

California’s up-and-down economic recovery took another turn for the worse in May as employers shed a net 29,200 jobs from payrolls, a surprisingly large loss following the healthy gains seen earlier this year.

Some of the losses are probably tied to a slowdown in trade with Japan, which is still recovering from a devastating tsunami, and from rising gas prices and other costs that have led employers to put the brakes on hiring, economists said.

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“I see Japan written all over this report,” said Esmael Adibi, an economist at Chapman University.

Cargo passing through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach rose just 1% in May, the same month in which employers eliminated 3,600 positions in trade, transportation and utilities.

Construction was another weak spot, shedding 5,000 jobs, as the sour real estate market continued to be a drag on the recovery. Home sales statewide fell 13.3% last month from a year earlier, and home values dropped by 10.4%.

The unemployment rate inched down to 11.7%, according to the state Employment Development Department report released Friday. But analysts saw little to cheer, saying that the decline in the rate probably reflects growing numbers of Californians who have given up the job hunt or who have left to seek work elsewhere. Only Nevada has higher unemployment than California.

The trend mirrors a gloomier outlook nationally, with both employment and economic growth slowing amid higher prices for gasoline and other consumer goods and services.

“This is one more indication of how slow the recovery is proceeding and is likely to proceed,” said Michael Bernick, an attorney who formerly headed the state Employment Development Department. “It also raises a counter-narrative, that there are structural changes and the economy, in certain sectors, needs fewer workers.”

That’s not what Donna Smith, 23, of Salton City wants to hear. She recently completed a certificate program in business management from Everest College, a multi-campus vocational school, but hasn’t had luck finding any work.

“I’m looking for any basic entry-level position, but it’s kind of hard,” she said. “There’s not really much.”

The job losses in May came after the state added an adjusted 14,900 jobs in April, when the unemployment rate was 11.8%, according to the latest EDD figures. The state experienced five straight months of job growth from October through February.

Adibi sounded an optimistic note, saying that the Japanese rebuilding effort will eventually translate into more work in California. He also predicts the state will gain jobs as consumers start spending discretionary income on vacations and on items they’d been holding off on purchasing.

Japan, he added, “is just a hiccup — job creation is going to gain momentum as we go through the year.”

Technology is one bright spot. Tech companies in the Bay Area are on a hiring binge, helping keep the unemployment rate in the San Francisco area to 8.1%.

The San Francisco area added a net 2,600 jobs in May, while the San Jose-Santa Clara statistical area added 2,100. Employment in the information sector has grown 7.1% in just a year.

“It is shocking to me — reading the paper, watching the news, hearing the unemployment reports, hearing house prices continuing to slump — you just don’t see that in the Bay Area,” said Kevin Hartz, chief executive of Eventbrite, an online ticketing company that has hired 32 people so far this quarter. The firm has been forced to recruit engineers from out of state to fill some open positions.

The Bay Area is one of the few regions to consistently gain jobs this year, thanks to the information sector, but most of the state’s unemployed lack the education to work in the newly created jobs.

Prospects aren’t so bright elsewhere. Many of the state’s unemployed workers are trained in industries — such as construction — that have virtually disappeared. Job prospects in retail and trade, meanwhile, have been dimmed by corporate efforts to make do with fewer people, often by having computer programs and machines do jobs that used to require workers.

“Becoming sophisticated, more advanced and computerized may not pay out in additional jobs,” said Johannes Moenius, an economist at the University of Redlands who studies the logistics industry. “It could even mean negative job growth.”

Article source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-california-jobs-20110618,0,4509354.story

During one of my reports today on how gas prices could affect the housing recovery, one of the anchors asked me if I really believe there is a housing recovery right now.

That’s a very good question.

Yesterday, the Realtors chief economist questioned it himself.

Today a new report from Robert Shiller’s outfit, MacroMarkets, found that of 111 housing market experts and economists surveyed, nearly half foresee a double-dip in home prices happening this year, “and not a single panelist expects national home prices to recover to the pre-bubble trend in the coming 5 years.” In December, only 15 percent projected a new post-crash low would materialize for home prices. We are now less than 1 percent away from that mark, according to the survey.

“Overall, the sentiment among our expert panel regarding the U.S. housing market outlook continues to deteriorate,” writes Shiller. “Now they are expecting only a weak recovery, and even that is not until 2013.”

This report comes on the same day that Fannie Mae’s chief economist put out a report claiming uncertainty in Japan and trouble in Libya will directly affect housing’s recovery, specifically citing rising gas prices.

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