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| Horn of Plenty Happy Thanksgiving |
We're constantly reading about the shortage of housing units, in California and nationwide, and its effect in creating rising prices (still), yet the actual activity in many areas shows constantly decreasing prices and longer times on the market, because at the same time many buyers struggle with the higher interest rates.
And then there's this:
The number of homes on the market has grown amid the collapse in demand, but in emailed comments, Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said new listings are lower compared to the same period one year ago and that housing inventory overall remains near “historic lows.” Forbes.com article.
In the midst of buyers who struggle with obtaining loan approval at higher interest rates, there are also those buyers who are exceptionally well qualified, and can buy well over the list price of the house they make an offer on, and also know that in the current market sellers may be feeling the pressure of selling, so they bid low, sometimes very low, well under market value. The property with very recent upgrades, i.e., new kitchen or new bath, is likely to fare pretty well, but still much depends on location, floor plan, and size factors. Out of 37 closings in the last 3 days in Bellflower, Long Beach, Lakewood, Cypress and Signal Hill, and Los Alamitos, 12 sold over last list price, but not necessarily with the huge overbids of 2021.
Long Beach zip code median single family prices for October:
90806 $705,000 Please see my Wrigley listing
90803 $1,477,000
90808 $895,000
90815 $983,000
90805 $628,000
90807 $1,020,000
So while these prices may still look healthy, all these areas are down from the peaks in April and May of 2022, when the median SFR price in April for all of Long Beach was $1,040,000, compared to October when the median SFR price for the city fell to $850,000. (Average prices produce a different number in some cases, but the median price is not dragged up or down by an outlier price they way an average price may be.) Both buyers and sellers have been caught off guard by the volatile, and literally overnight, changes in interest rates, up as high as 7.2%, and then recently returning to the high 6%'s. There are various projections about future rates, discussed in California Association of Realtors annual market prediction. The future is hard to predict, and buyers and sellers should act promptly -- buyers who want to wait 6 months out to buy are chancing what could be a very different environment, and this is true in any market.
For an evaluation of your property please contact me for more area market information.
And, oh yes, Happy Thanksgiving!
Julia Huntsman, REALTOR, Broker | http://www.juliahuntsman.com | 562-896-2609 | California Lic. #01188996
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