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San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Valley Economy Recovering Poco a Poco…Poco a Poco

During the mid 1990s, I was determined to learn the Spanish language. So after taking a few courses in college, I decided the only way to really “get it” was to immerse myself in the Spanish-speaking world. I took the summer off, traveled to Guatemala, lived with a native family and studied the language eight hours a day. In order to travel on the weekends and take in the culture of that country, I had to speak Spanish…everywhere. I was anxious to get the ball rolling and quick. It was a matter of social survival for gosh sakes! And I used to get really frustrated during the eight hour lessons that my comprehension wasn’t moving along faster. One of my teachers, a little old Mayan woman who stood less than five feet tall, used to laugh every time I’d throw my hands up in the air in frustration. Then she’d look at me with her wrinkled wise eyes and calmly say, “Poco a poco, Eric…Poco a poco.” Roughly translated, that means just slow down and take it step by step, step by step. Her words always calmed me down and made me smile. And in the end, she was right. Incremental progress was the best way to learn the language. Judging by some of the stories I wrote for this issue, and general conversations with business professionals in the greater San Fernando Valley area, I think the first quarter of 2010 and the past month were small steps in the right direction towards financial recovery. Retail sales were stronger than anticipated in March. Strong sales and increased foot traffic at some of the area’s malls continued through the month of April. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index rebounded in March and increased further in April. Transaction volume up Office and industrial vacancy rates continue to rise in many Valley markets. But brokers are reporting that transaction volume has increased. More money is coming off of the sidelines. Residential real estate is a bit tricky. Single family sales fell 7.2 percent during March compared to a year ago. But sales were up 29.7 percent from a February 2010 rally, according to Southland Regional Association of Realtors (SRAR). It’s a better time for traditional sellers to list a home. Resale prices have been inching upward in some of the lower end markets, and many sellers –albeit a large percentage is short sales- are experiencing multiple offers. But inventories remain tight for single-family existing homes. The median price of the 594 single-family homes sold in March was $400,000, up 15.6 percent from a year ago, and 6.7 percent higher than the median reported in February, according to SRAR. Federal tax credits for homebuyers, which have significantly fueled sales, expired. But a state homebuyer tax credit recently took effect. Sales activity is also picking up in the high-end residential markets. Home values in the million dollar plus category have yet to hit bottom, according to local realtors. But affordability is at a point where an increasing number of all or mostly cash buyers are swooping in. Our local biotech giant, Amgen, reported some pretty encouraging numbers for the first quarter. Total product sales for Q1 increased nine percent to $3,528 million from $3,238 million for the first quarter of 2009, according to Amgen’s latest earnings report. Sales in the U.S. totaled $2,677 million, an increase of seven percent. International sales increased 16 percent to $851 million. Sales increase Sales increased for most of the company’s product lines. And the FDA set an action date for this summer to determine whether Amgen can move forward with bringing its osteoporosis drug Prolia to market. The company is also making progress on marketing the potentially blockbuster drug in Europe. And, since we’re on the subject of the Spanish language, I think Arizona’s recent stance on illegal immigration is a positive for one reason: It’s spurring debate about how we want to treat the immigrant population moving forward. Many Californians have voiced opposition to Arizona’s stance. Opinions on the subject are a dime a dozen. But one thing is for certain: Immigrants – legal and illegal – are an integral part of California’s economy. And they are certainly worth considering in the context of the state’s recovery. But back to my wise and wrinkled language teacher in Guatemala. My first month of learning Spanish was rough. But her jokes and gentle reminders to slow down kept me coming back for more. I think it was at about week six that something finally clicked. I knew the foundational elements of the language inside and out, and suddenly found myself interacting with my teacher and others with relative ease. From that point, my comprehension and use of the Spanish language sped up about ten fold. The economy of the greater San Fernando Valley area has a long way to go before any sense of normalcy returns. But the first part of the year has shown that we’re continuing to take positive steps forward, poco a poco…poco a poco. Like learning another language, we’re laying the foundation for when that “something” clicks and the economy takes off again. Staff Reporter Eric Billingsley can be reached at (818) 316-3124 or at [email protected].

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