Local economy is languishing but not plummeting, says Econowatch.

Local economy is languishing but not plummeting, says Econowatch

Econowatch registered mixed signals last week, reflecting a regional economy that appears to remain somewhat flat, neither igniting out of the recession nor sinking steeply.

In real estate news, home sales in July sagged a bit to 5,493 units in Los Angeles County, off 16.4 percent from June and 12 percent from July a year earlier.

However, home prices remain stable; at $210,000, median single-family home prices are actually up 2.9 percent from a year earlier. To date, the "California house price collapse" scenario touted by doomsayers, including the national financial weekly Barron's, has yet to happen.

Condo sales in the county in July also sagged a bit to 1,157 units, off 8.7 percent from a year earlier, while prices are flat.

In bad news, Chapter 11 (reorganization) bankruptcies declarations surged to 214 in July, up 7.5 percent from June and 111.9 percent from July a year ago. Chapter 7 declarations rose to 6,115 in July, up 56.3 percent from a year earlier.

In better news, Pacific Bell reported the small-business phone subscriber (businesses with six lines or less) index rose to 104.3 in May, up a smidgen from April and ahead 4.4 percent from May a year ago. This suggests that small businesses are still being formed in Los Angeles County.

Tourism remains weak; the Los Angeles County hotel occupancy rate in July was 67.3 percent, off from 71.3 percent in July a year ago, according to Pannell Kerr Forster, the CPA firm.

Local inflation is relatively low. The July index for Los Angeles County is only 4.4 percent higher than a year earlier.

On the international front, the volume of exports through Los Angeles harbor grew to nearly $4 billion in June, up 1.6 percent from a year earlier, while imports grew to $5.6 billion, ahead 4.0 percent. About 250,000 Southlanders make their living ushering goods through the port - from dockworkers to truck drivers to import brokers to maritime insurers - so the increase in trade volume augurs well for parts of the Los Angeles economy.

Econowatch, a compilation of Southland economic and business statistics, is published weekly by the Business Journal to keep tabs on local economic trends.