Average Selling Prices in Long Beach, Cerritos, Lakewood, and Local Counties, April 2018

For a single family detached home, the average prices for the cities and counties below range from $381,718  to $1,141,966, the low price being in San Bernardino County.


Overall the Los Angeles County average price for single family home is $992,808, a small increase from the previous month of $969,831, and now exceeding the high of July 2017.

All these prices are for the month of April, 2018, based on data from CRMLS Infosparks.

Long Beach average price is slightly decreased from the prior month, but Orange County has surpassed the high of May, 2017, while Los Angeles County as a whole is now above the high of $955,973 in July 2017.  San Bernardino County's averages also exceed the earlier highs of $360,000, and is now at the the highest point in the last 5 years. Average single family home Pprices are varying according to area, and here's what they look like locally.

April 2018

Long Beach
$685,445 | -4.1%

Lakewood
$600,580 | +8.2%

Cerritos
859,816 | +5.2%

Los Angeles County
$992,808 | +9.0%

San Bernardino County
$381,718 | +11.2%

Orange County
$1,141,966 | +14.2%

These statistics show a mix of pricing, with Long Beach at an average days on market at 28 days, Lakewood at 24 days on market, and Cerritos at 34 days on the market on average.  Inventory is still at 2 months or less in all 3 cities, and closing prices continue within 1.5% over or under the original price.  In other words, since the last analysis in November 2017, houses are still selling within 2% of original list price, with less time on the market, and a low housing inventory from which to choose.   

Condos

Briefly, Long Beach condo average price is $395,639, a decrease from $437,000 last month. The condo average for Los Angeles County is $602,193, a slight decrease from last month. Other local city condo prices: Cerritos: $370,000;  Monterey Park, $439,500; Pasadena, $715,634; Whittier, $353,692.

 It’s a tight market right now!

For an online and automated home valuation, try my site at http://www.juliahuntsman.com/home-evaluation.  It probably works more accurately for single family homes than condos in some areas, depending on what properties lie within about a one-mile radius.  Try it!  And I am always happy to do a more customized report to send out via e-mail.  If you're thinking about making a move, do it! It pays to keep an eye on things.

P.S. The photo is a door in Dublin, Ireland, where the housing market is pretty similar to our West Coast!

Julia Huntsman, Broker Realtor

Lic 01188996
www.juliahuntsman.com

Signal Hill View Home, Promontory Crest

 Beautiful luxury home in Signal Hill offers panoramic views in Promontory Crest, offered at $1,148,000.
This exceptional two-story home offers three bedrooms PLUS a large office, beautiful kitchen, dining area.  Maple hardwood floors, granite in the kitchen, plantation shutters, and wired sound are just some of the extras in this home.
The views are extraordinary and the location is ideal in one of Signal Hill's nicest developments.
Promontory Crest offers its members a pool, spa, barbecue, outdoor cooking area, playground, and hiking trails.

Open house this weekend on Sunday April 29th, please contact me for more information, easy access through HOA's gated entry.
Lic #01188996

 See more at http://www.juliahuntsman.com/open-houses.html






Listing Broker:  Time Realty

New Measure on Ballot for Nov. 6th--Get Rid of the "Moving Penalty"

The Property Tax Fairness Initiative (Portability) has obtained enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot in California.  This is good news, because now owners over 55 years of age could have the opportunity to take their Proposition 13 tax base anywhere in the state, not just select counties, and be able to use it more than once.  The campaign to gather signatures has been successful through the efforts of the California Association of Realtors, and the many Realtors who helped to get the word out and obtain signatures.

If passed, this Initiative would allow homeowners 55 and over to transfer their Prop. 13 tax base to a home of any price (current limitation is a sale price equal or lesser than sale price of original residence), to any county in the state.  Currently, there are only a minority of counties (as per Prop. 60 and Prop. 90) which participate in this plan, creating geographic disincentives to move since moving to a non-participating county could cause a huge increase in property taxes for those in fixed-income retirement or nearing retirement mode.   Currently, a homeowner living in Los Angeles County can benefit from current Prop. 13 tax base if they sell and stay within L.A. County, or sell and go to Orange County, Riverside County, and numerous others in the group--but with the passage of the new tax portability, a homeowner would still be paying a Prop. 13 fair share tax, but would be given the benefit of moving to any county and not lose their base.

The passage of this initiative would benefit a lot of people beyond the 55+ age group, it also applies to people who are disabled and those who have lost their homes to a natural disaster.  Additionally, more movement would be created in the residential real estate market, potentially creating a lot of economic benefit to move-up and first time buyers in what has been a very tight inventory.

Sample scenarios from the California Association of Realtors:

"Buy Up Example 
Original Purchase Price: $100k Estimated
Property Taxes: $1k/annually
Existing Home Sale Price: $300k
New Home Price: $400k
New Property Taxes: $2k/annually.
The $100k difference between the $300k sales price and the $400k purchase price is added to the original Prop. 13 property tax base of $100k for a new Prop. 13 tax base of $200k.

"Buy Down Example
Original Purchase Price: $100k
Estimated Property Taxes: $1k/annually
Existing Home Sale Price: $300k
New Home Price: $200k
New Property Taxes: 1/3 of $200k = $67k or $670/year for property taxes
If a homeowner buys a less expensive home, the property taxes will be proportionally the same as for the original home. In other words, if the tax base was one-third of the sale price, the new property tax would be one-third of the new sale price."

Please follow this issue as the year progresses!!
I am available for home value information at my phone contact information, or through my website.

Update: May 8:  At their recent meetings (Sacramento, May 2 -- 5), California Association of Realtors directors voted to pursue an alternative to the ballot initiative... It would be to seek support to have the legislature place the issue on the ballot in 2020. By seeking such legislative support, CAR would be able to free up resources to address other crucial issues in 2018. Whether this alternative will be possible won't be known until late June.