Daily Business Report — Aug. 23, 2011

Luxury Home Values Decline

Luxury home values declined in San Diego in the second quarter of this year compared to the first quarter, according to First Republic Bank’s Prestige Home Index. Luxury home prices rose in Los Angeles and San Francisco, by comparison.

In San Diego, prices continued a downward trend. On a year-over-year basis, second quarter prices fell 6 percent compared to the second quarter of 2010. Mo Loghavi of Prudential California Realty in La Jolla said he expects prices to drop further. “People in the $1.5 million to $5 million range want to continue downsizing, but there are no trade-up buyers,” he said. “We still have another 12 to 14 months of inventory. By the end of 2012, we will see a little more movement, but I haven’t seen the light at the end of the tunnel for the luxury market.”

Farid Khayamian of RE/MAX Associates in La Jolla also said prices may continue to weaken. “In San Diego County, we have roughly 23 months of inventory for homes over $2 million,” he said. “Average supply is about six months. Too much supply and not enough demand for higher end homes will cause prices to soften. Low prices and high inventory are encouraging many investors to make all-cash purchases.”

Regional Real Estate Summit

The San Diego Association of Realtors will present the third annual Regional Real Estate Summit on Wednesday (Aug. 24) at the Town and Country Resort in Mission Valley. Real estate professionals and the general public are invited to the breakfast gathering. Industry experts will put the state and regional real estate economy in focus and provide insight into trends for the near future. The summit begins at 9 a.m. with registration and networking, followed by the program, which will conclude at noon. SDAR President, Bob Kevane will deliver welcome and closing remarks and moderate the question and answer section of the program. This year, speakers include: Norm Miller, director of real estate academic programs at the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego; and Cynthia A. Kroll, senior regional economist at the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at UC Berkeley. Cost to attend is $29 for SDAR members and $39 for nonmembers. For more information and to register, visit sdar.com or call (858) 715-8000.

Arts Showcase

From El Greco to Dali

For the first and only time in the United States, the San Diego Museum of Art  presents the exhibition “From El Greco to Dalí: The Great Spanish Masters from the Pérez Simón Collection.”  Displaying 64 Spanish oil paintings, sculptures, and drawings from more than 25 master painters, the exhibition, on view through Nov. 6, presents a remarkable overview and visual representation of the progression and history of art in Spain over the last 500 years.

With the works of El Greco, José de Ribera and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, the visitor is taken to the heart of the different faces of Catholic Reformation art in the 16th-18th centuries. Goya and Sanchez Coello counter this religious art with beautiful, and sensitive, court portraits of Spanish Monarchs, balancing the portrayal of power with realistic representations.

Ten works by Joaquin Sorolla, the undisputed master of scenes portraying simple pleasures and known for vivid, bright, strong canvasses, highlight the strong feeling of national identity that characterizes Spanish art of the 19th century. The exhibition finishes with a dialogue between Cubism and Surrealism by the Spanish masters who revolutionized western art: Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, and Salvador Dali.

Juan Antonio Pérez Simón, a Spanish-Mexican businessman and celebrated art collector, began to build his collection in the 1970s. Over a period of about 10 years, his passion for art and taste for culture has led him to acquire a magnificent collection of paintings, sculptures, drawings, etchings, decorative objets d’art and manuscripts together with a library of more than 15,000 books.