Compass SoCal July 2019 Real Estate Market Update

Acrossthe majority of Los Angeles communities, median home prices increased again inJuly with the overall increase averaging about 4 percent compared to last year.Some communities in Mid City, Los Angeles saw even stronger increases in medianhome prices as sales of higher-priced homes picked up again. In contrast, someof the more affordable Los Angeles communities saw relatively lower pricegrowth as affordability constrains many would-be buyers.

Thenumber of homes sold in Los Angeles communities continued to show someimprovement from the winter lull, though some areas on the East Side and in theNorth San Fernando Valley saw relatively stronger slowdown in sales. West Side communities generally recovered fromthe slow spring.

Thestrongest gain in sales was among homes priced between $1 million and $2million, with generally most communities seeing the growth. Lower priced salesare again facing lack of available inventory after a period of moreavailability earlier this summer. Sales of homes priced above $2 million alsobounced back from a hesitant start to the year and are generally trending inline with last year’s numbers.

Thepace of sales continued to improve, and homes generally sold in 30 days, whichis only five days slower than last year’s 25 day median. Nevertheless, East Sideand communities northeast of Downtown Los Angeles saw a relatively largerincrease in days on market compared to last year. East San Fernando Valley sawswifter sales than last year, as did Malibu which continues to recover from thepost-fire slowdown.

Buyers are being encouraged by lower mortgage rates, though that’s not their main concern at the moment. It seems that buyers are relatively more constrained than last year, but their optimism has improved from earlier this year. Buyers signed a solid number of contracts in July, suggesting August will be another solid month for Los Angeles housing market activity.

Click here to see more Los Angeles region market statistics for July.