What the August Numbers Say About Selling in LA County
Every month I get the same question from sellers: “Are prices going up or down?” The honest answer is usually “it depends on the house.” But the new numbers are worth a look.
The California Association of Realtors reported that the median price for an existing single-family home in Los Angeles County was $946,950 in August. That is up 1.7% from a year ago. Sales were up 2.1% from last August too, though they fell 13.4% from July. Homes that sold took a median of 30 days, and there were about 3.9 months of inventory.
What I take from that: prices are steady, not surging and not dropping. Buyers have a bit more to choose from than they did last year. Active listings in the county are up about 4%, and more sellers are cutting their price. Realtor.com puts the share of listings with a reduction at roughly 27 out of every 100.
A word of caution on medians. The median is the middle of the homes that closed that month. It is not what your house is worth. July to August moved 6.6%, and that is mostly about which homes happened to close, not a sudden jump in value. An Encino house and a Boyle Heights house sit in very different places, and so do two houses on the same street.
If you are thinking of selling, here is what I would do:
Price it for today’s buyer, not last spring’s. Homes priced right in the first two weeks get the best attention. Homes that sit tend to end up with a reduction anyway.
Look at recent sales on your own block, not the county headline.
Get the small things done before you list. Paint, landscaping and fixing what an inspector will find anyway.
If you are thinking of buying, a little more choice means a little more room to negotiate. That is not the same as a bargain, and monthly payments still matter more than the price tag. Run the full monthly cost before you fall in love with a house.
If you want to know what your home would sell for today, send me a note through the contact page. I will give you a straight answer, no pressure.