L.A. real estate news and insights.
This data shows why we are seeing multiple offers on properties again... there are still not enough homes for sale!
Closed sales this past January fell to 9,938, the lowest number of transactions in records dating back 35 years, real estate data firm CoreLogic reported Tuesday, Feb. 28.
An average January has about 17,000 closings.
We need more homes to hit the market to meet buyer demand!
During November, the number of listings for single-family homes declined 26 percent in Los Angeles County, according to a new signed contracts report from Douglas Elliman.
There were 1,794 listings in L.A. County in November compared to October, when there were 2,426 homes listed in the county.
One reason why the inventory has declined is that sellers are delisting their houses until the market changes. On average, 2 percent of homes were delisted each week during the 12-week period ending Nov. 20.
Home sales also declined in November, according to the Elliman report. Last month, 1,643 homes sold. That represents a decline of 18.7 percent from the previous month, when 2,022 home sales closed in Los Angeles County, and a whopping 50 percent fall from the same time a year ago when 3,290 homes sold in the county.
Just met a woman a few days ago at a business event, and we immediately began talking about real estate. She mentioned she had put her home on the market a few weeks ago. During the first week on the market, she had little activity and no offers. Anyone following the real estate market knows it has been red hot, so this had come as a surprise to her. She said that higher interest rates, inflation, the stock market being down, and the crypto market crashing all played a big part in why her home was not getting the attention she was anticipating. Therefore, she dropped her asking price by $100,000. She eventually got a couple of offers and closed escrow on her property for lower than she had hoped for.
She kept saying how grateful she was for getting the selling price she got. I thought to myself she dropped her price $100K, how could she still be grateful? She said she was grateful because her home's value had increased 20% over the last 12 months. She said she didn't get the absolute peak of the market of 20% profits, but she got 15% profits. She was thrilled that her home's value went up 15%, was able to make some money, and move on to the next chapter of her life.
My new friend makes a very good point. Would you be happy if I told you that your home's value would go up 15% in one year? Of course you would! So forget about what you could have sold your home for last month and look at the huge profits you could still get today.
Enjoy these profits while you can, because by the looks of things, the housing market is in for a major shift.
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Asking price: $1,199,100
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Student debt has long been blamed for preventing many home sales. Half of potential home buyers surveyed this year say they haven’t bought yet because of student debt, according to a report by the National Association of REALTORS® and Morning Consult. Millennials are the most likely to point to student debt for delaying homeownership.
“Housing affordability is worsening, leaving future home buyers with student debt at a severe disadvantage,” NAR President Charlie Oppler told CNBC.
Student loan debt can affect eligibility for a mortgage. A borrower’s payment history on student loans can affect their credit score. Any defaults on student loans will make it more difficult to get approved for a mortgage, lenders say.
But those with student loan debt are still finding ways to buy. For example, they can apply for a mortgage with a co-signer such as a family member or friend to help to improve their credit status.
Staying current on student loan payments is crucial, Mark Kantrowitz, a higher education expert, told CNBC. Borrowers should avoid deferments or forbearances leading up to homeownership.
Kantrowitz noted one exception, however: the current option to pause payments without accruing interest. The U.S. Department of Education started offering this option to borrowers at the beginning of the pandemic, though it will end in January. “The eligible federal student loans are reported as current to the three national credit reporting bureaus, so there shouldn’t be an impact on applying for a mortgage,” Krantowitz told CNBC.
Foreclosures and short sales represented less than 1% of sales in January, equal to December's percentage, but down from 2% in January 2020.
Despite ongoing Coronavirus lockdowns for months in California, home sales remained high in November 2020, breaking the 500,000 sales benchmark for the first time since January 2009.
This is the highest sales level in 15 years.
November sales rose 5.0 percent from 484,510 in October and were up 26.3 percent from a year ago when 402,880 homes were sold on an annualized basis.
The year-over-year, double-digit sales gain was the fourth consecutive and the largest yearly gain since May 2009.
Source: California Association of Realtors
The 4th quarter of the year (October, November, December) is usually when home sales are the slowest.
The reason is that everyone is busy with the holidays that come up during those months.
A buyer may put their home search on hold because they are having their family stay at their home for #Thanksgiving.
Or maybe it's more important to a home buyer to go to all the holiday parties instead of focusing on finding a home.
No matter what the reason is, the 4th quarter is typically the slowest time of the year in real estate.
Having said that, the real motivated buyers and sellers are still out there trying to make a deal happen.
Some of the best deals I have seen have gone down during the holiday season.
On this episode, I answer the following four real estate questions:
1) Now that my offer is officially accepted, how long does it take to close escrow on the home?
2) How do I send my deposit money over to the escrow company?
3) Is there certain day I should close escrow on?
4) What is a special recording and how is it different than a regular recording?
We have almost 20,000 Instagram followers... join us!
On this episode, I answer the following four real estate questions:
1) Do you think home prices have gone up in value so far in 2019?
2) What should I expect to happen as I get closer to closing escrow on our home?
3) We are in the middle of buying a house right now. When does the title get transferred over to us and we officially become the owners of the home?
4) Once we close escrow, when do we turn over possession of my home to the buyer?
We have over 20,000 followers on Instagram... join us!
