Dataquick announced that resale, and new home sales in Los Angeles County, dropped 48% from year ago levels. An even more bleak figure, due to the larger number, was the fact that we are 68% lower that the sales level for Los Angeles County reached back in October 2003. Dataquick said that sales levels are at their lowest levels in more than two years, and that approximately two years of median sales price gains had been erased, rolling back to 2005 levels.
Some areas hit harder than others: Riverside County, clocked in at a 15.1% drop in median sales price from a year ago. The figure went from $412,136, down to $350,000.
Locally: Santa Clarita home sales by contrast (just resale homes), in September 07, were off 51.8% from September 06 home sale levels.
Bottom-line: Over the next few months, home sales will stay flat, or decrease even further, as we are all inundated with the holiday season fast approaching. By late January, and early February, we will see a return to an increasing inventory of homes for sale in Santa Clarita, and Los Angeles County as a whole. Whether home sales pick up or not, will depend a lot on the overall economy, and the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve. Median home prices will continue to modestly down in Southern California if there is not a sizable gain on home sales versus inventory increases. As soon as sellers catch wind that home sales are picking up, and buyers are coming out of their cocoons in greater numbers, the sellers on the market will start to ease their price reductions amounts, and some will simply stop. But until then, hang on homeowners, it’s a Buyer’s Market!
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