Los Angeles County, 2018 Year in Review

2018 Year in Review for LA County

This chart for 2018 is for single family homes only, it does not include condos.

Los Angeles County prices continue upward, albeit at a slower pace, while sales volume continues down.

The gap between original list price and sales price is widening a little to about 3% on a county wide basis.

Please contact me for confidential help on selling your property!


Julia Huntsman, REALTOR, Broker | www.juliahuntsman.com | 562-896-2609 | California Lic. #01188996

Average Sales Prices Mostly UP in Selected Long Beach Areas, Signal Hill and Lakewood for 2018

Lately, the internet is full of stories about softening prices, but it turns out to not be all true.  It depends on the city and overall region.  But take a look at these stats, taken directly from the CRMLS, which happens to be the largest MLS in the country with 96,000 subscribers and another 143,000 agents in participating MLS's.

Below are the average sales prices for single family homes, with the sales count for that period in parentheses (  ).  It was a little different than I expected--I chose these areas in Long Beach as representative of single family homes for different points in the city, and then chose Lakewood and Signal Hill as entire cities.

As you will see below, in most cases, for 2018, both average sales price and sales volume increased in the second 5 months of the year, compared to the first 6 months--not what I expected to see, especially in the highest price area of the city where properties are spending more time on the market.

Long Beach

Area 1 - Naples, Belmont Shore/Park, Marina Pacifica, Bay Harbor - UP
1/1 - 6/1 --   $1,220,951    (71)
6/2 - 12/1 -- $1,588,024    (90)

Area 2 - Belmont Heights, Alamitos Heights, Bluff Park - UP
1/1 - 6/1 --   $996,377       (44)
6/2 - 12/1 -- $1,106,803    (63)

Area 5 - Wrigley Area - UP
1/1/ - 6/1 --   $538,908      (50)
6/2 - 12/1 --  $574,446      (63)

Area 6 - Bixby, Bixby Knolls, Los Cerritos, California Hts - MIXED
1/1 - 6/2 --   $760,435        (101)
6/2 - 12/1 -- $749,131        (107)

Area 7 - North Long Beach - UP
1/1/ - 6/1 --  $447,282         (100)
6/2 - 12/1 -- $464,851         (165)

Areas 31,32,33,34 - Los Altos, Conant, Ranchos, Plaza, Stratford Square - UP
1/1/ - 6/1 --  $696,026         (187)
6/2 - 12/1 -- $716,253         (252)

City of Signal Hill - UP
1/1/ - 6/1 --  $747,303         (27)
6/2 - 12/1 -- $872,874         (23)

City of Lakewood - UP
1/1/ - 6/1 --  $589,653         (314)
6/2 - 12/1 -- $612,165         (401)

If you are interested in selling for 2019, or would just like some idea at this point of your market value, please contact me directly via text, phone or email.


Julia Huntsman, REALTOR, Broker | www.juliahuntsman.com | 562-896-2609 | California Lic. #01188996

California Conforming Loan Limits Increased

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have increased the 2019 conforming loan limits, to match the increasing market which is higher than the national average.
Mortgage loan limits on loans acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are increased  to $484,350 on one-unit properties and a cap of $726,525 in high-cost areas. The previous loan limits were $453,100 and $679,650, respectively.

Not all California counties will have the same upper loan limit, however, Los Angeles, Alameda, Orange, and other Bay Area counties such as San Francisco County will have the highest cap of $726,525 for one unit, and  up to $1,397,400 for 4 unit residential properties.  See California county loan limits.
 

Julia Huntsman, REALTOR, Broker | www.juliahuntsman.com | 562-896-2609 | California Lic. #01188996

What's Ahead for the California Real Estate Market in 2019?

The annual California Association of Realtors Trade Show was held earlier in October, and it's always the time for the next year's market prediction.  So the main points are:

Calif Market Outlook 2019

• There will be modest decline in sales volume to 3.3% for 2019 for single family homes, or a total of 396,800 units, down from the projected 2018 sales figure of 410,460. The 2018 figure is 3.2 percent lower compared with the 424,100 pace of homes sold in 2017. In other words, 2019 will be about 7% lower in sales volume from 2017.
• The California median home price is forecast to increase 3.1 percent to $593,450 in 2019, following a projected 7.0 percent increase in 2018 to $575,800.  
• Fixed mortgage rates to rise to 5.2%.
• “The surge in home prices over the past few years due to the housing supply shortage has finally taken a toll on the market,” said C.A.R. Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “Despite an improvement in supply conditions, there is a high level of uncertainty about the direction of the market that is affecting homebuying decisions. This psychological effect is creating a mismatch in price expectations between buyers and sellers and will limit price growth in the upcoming year.”  
• Outmigration, from the home county or from the state, is a concern, in 2018, 28 percent of homebuyers moved out of the county in which they previously resided. 29 percent of sellers moving out of California, up 10 percent from 2013.
• New housing supply, big issue.
• Affordability: Move to Lassen County or Kern County for lowest prices in U.S.,  least affordable areas in U.S. are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Oxnard, San Francisco 
• California is home to largest number of homeless. 
• New York and California have lowest rate of homeownership, Michigan and West Virginia have the highest.
• In 2017, cities with lower renter rates (under 50%) ,were Lakewood, Menifee, Temecula, Whittier, Yorba Linda, while over 50% cities are Long Beach, Bellflower, Alhambra, Costa Mesa, Pasadena, to name a few. 
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• So now could be the time for buyers to get moving before rates go any higher, maintain good credit (or improve your score now), and find the best loan out there.
• Please contact me for any help to buy or sell: Sellers, prices are very favorable for you and will continue to be, so contact me for your moving plans!
 

 

 

Julia Huntsman, REALTOR, Broker | www.juliahuntsman.com | 562-896-2609 | California Lic. #01188996