Queen's Necklace View..South Bay -Beach Cities
Peter Viles at the LA Land Blog posted a rather interesting article on the 20 areas in Los Angeles that saw gains in value in the 4th Quarter of 2007. Among the 20 areas that posted gains were # 3 Manhattan Beach(90266 at +3.6%) at ... # 9 North Redondo(90278 at +2.2%) ... #17 Hermosa Beach( 90254 at + 0.1%) ... # 18 Torrance (90503 at - 0.5)
Zillow's Quarterly Home Reports for the 4th Quarter of 2007 shows that values in the South Bay-Beach Cities are still in good shape. Not all of the South Bay Cities had information. I didn't find anything on Rancho Palos Verdes or Rolling Hills but did find information on Rolling Hills Estates and Palos Verdes Estates. Of the Beach Cities only El Segundo posted a loss in value (4.5%) while Manhattan, Hermosa and Redondo all posted gains. Hawthorne, Lawndale, Lomita, Gardena and Carson all posted large losses in value.
If you click on the City Page for Manhattan Beach you will note that we are up 2.2% for the year. If you click on the other Beach Cities you will see that for the year Hermosa is down slightly -0.4%, Redondo Beach is up 0.7% and El Segundo is up 3.9% for the year.
While these aren't stellar numbers they do show that contrary to popular opinion the Beach Cities are still holding their own in the LA County real estate housing market.
12 comments:
Um no. Torrance was number 18, but at a gain of -0.5%
Pat,
Whoops..Thanks for catching that.. It is corrected.. I wasn't sure how a - number figures as a gain but....
I think what your seeing is a medium that "appears"
to be holding up because, much of the inventory that
is moving is being bought by folks in the top 5%
income range.. houses far exceeding the typical 1M to 2M range. If you look at the middle of the market,
(1M-2M range)...a different story is being told...one
of falling mediums.
Anonymous 1:25,
I agree the market is very slow at the moment. However we are seeing more of the inventory in the $1.5-$2.1 range beginning to move after standing still for months.
I'm guessing the next few months will give us a better picture about where the market is headed.
Yes, agreed, but the reason for the movement has
everything to do with lower prices. Isn't is true that the 1.5 to 2.1 inventory that has recently sold use to
be more like 1.7 to 2.5??
Anonymous 5:02,
Ah.. here's the rub.. certainly some of them really did come down in price while others finally reached the price where they should have been listed in the first place.
That's what makes this market difficult.. there were and still are a number of properties that were listed way over where the market value actually was.. I'm talking agents walking in and shaking their heads at where the property was priced... There are still a few of them around but most of the really over priced homes have been reduced enough that they are finally reaching the price where they should have been listed in the first place. Once the reach market value many are beginning to sell.
Everyone assumes that no one is buying and that's not true.. they are buying once they find a property that meets their needs and is priced where buyers find value.... that could be $900,000 or $9,000,000 depending on the buyer.
Wasn't it this blog that mentioned sales were, "dismal, just plain lousy?" It's not that everyone assumes no one is buying, it is a fact that sales in L.A.( as a whole) are down by 50%. When the bottom falls out of a market, higher end markets are eventually impacted. Not right away, not all at once but eventually. There are more buyers in the lower
priced market because house appreciation sky-rocketed in just a short time, not long enough for buyers with healthy incomes to keep up with it...
I hate to say it, but those are a majority of buyers
and the ones that ultimately, move the market. If the market doesn't meet the middle buyer, it will eventually stop, with more and more inventory building and more and more days sitting on the market, as well!
Anonymous 9:37,
LOL..It was and it is... You are of course right that sales are down.. and if they don't pick up we are going to be in for some slow times.
I posted the Zillow figures for two reasons.. First if I say sales are slow but prices seem to be holding I'm a just another lying real estate agent.. but if Zillow says it then it seems to get by with little fanfare.
Second is that while sales have slowed down; at this point in time the market in the Beach Cities doesn't appear to be in danger of crashing. We will see prices continue to soften but hopefully not as much as in other parts of Los Angeles County.
The next few months will be the test of where the market is headed in the Beach Cities.
You are not just another "lying real estate agent", Kaye. Your blog is well thoughtful and informative.
You're "hopeful" as you should be and your class act responses make for fun reading. I guess we shall see
what bounce, if any, Spring brings! If this bear were in the buying mood, I would want a agent like you to represent me.
Anonymous 10:03,
Thank you.. I try to be balanced about the market and where we are headed. It's hard in a market like this one... with new disclosures every day... to actually know who is doing what to who....
Kaye-
It's Drew from Zillow. Thanks for writing -- glad you found the data useful for your audience.
Drew,
Thanks for doing the research..
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