California Real Estate

Real estate is defined as the "land and the improvements made to land, and the rights to use them" (Newton, et al., 1989, p. 15). Of the three factors of production (land, labor and capital), it is the most fixed: there is a finite amount of land available. Unlike labor, which changes as generations age, and capital, which changes with technology and innovation, land is indestructible. The land that sits beneath Manhattan is the same physical land which was purchased from the Indians, although the purposes for which the land is used, and the people using the land, have changed many times over since that purchase. This research examines the nature of real estate in general, and focuses on the differences felt between California real estate and real estate in the rest of the country.

In order to understand California real estate, it is necessary to have an understanding of the factors which affect real estate valuation. These factors begin with the physical characteristics of land: immobility, indestructibility and nonhomogeneity (Newton et al., 1989, p. 34). Immobility refers to the fact that land cannot be moved from one location to another. This is not to say that parts of the land (such as gravel, dirt, minerals), or the product of the land (fruits, vegetables) cannot be removed; rather, that the parcel of land itself is immobile. Indestructibility refers to the durability of land. While companies which issue stocks and bonds may disappear, and governments which i

Related Essays

Real Estate Developers .... Second, individuals possessing physical resources, such as real estate, in most instance will find that they can sell such property in California (even at .... (1623 6 )

The Real Estate Market in the US Today .... MAX brokerage franchise, to the effect that talk of a hot real estate market at .... In Southern California especially, dreary job prospects have created a one year .... (1578 6 )

High Cost of Housing in California .... Their California real estate agent has had difficulty finding properties for them to look at because houses simply are not staying on the market for very long. .... (2750 11 )

Overvaluation of California Housing Market .... Their California real estate agent has had difficulty finding properties for them to look at because houses simply are not staying on the market for very long. .... (2750 11 )

Impact of NAFTA & Inflation on Real Estate in Texas Real estate .... an area is suffering through a recession, or is slow to recover from a recession (such as California in the early and mid-1990s), its real estate industry is .... (5764 23 )

fields and urban developments sites included. In fact, the largest single group of assets held by the Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corporation is its real estate, valued at between five and nine billion dollars in June 1988 (Hamel and Schreiner, 1988, p. 50). In all, the company controls more than three million acres across 14 states (p. 50). The railroad's California holdings account for the bulk of its economic, if not physical, real estate holdings. The company owns 208 undeveloped acres of land near San Francisco's financial district, the currently unused downtown San Francisco Southern Pacific headquarters and a 47 percent interest in the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood (Hamel and Schreiner, 1988, p. 50). Santa Fe Southern Pacific's California real estate holdings are composed primarily of office and industrial space, which are one significant component of California land. The other components include residential, agricultural and retail. "If California were a separate nation, it would have the seventh largest gross national product in the world," according to Tom Gau, of Kavesh and Gau, financial planners (Harris, 1990, p. 72). An economy which generates that level of activity requires tremendous input from th

Category: Business - C