Palos Verdes Home Inventory at Historically Low Levels

We are officially home with our second baby boy, Reece, and very thankful to have such a wonderful newborn. And, while our parenting skills are a lot more seasoned, no matter which way you slice it, our house is an absolute circus competing with two kids under two.

Much like our home, the South Bay residential real estate market has turned into a bit of a circus as well.

If you are in the market looking for a home, know someone searching for a home, or just like to follow the market closely…the circus consists of new home listings garnering insane amounts of showings and offers.

“There is no inventory!” A currently popular saying heard literally everywhere, by everyone…and in many cases, it holds true.

For this week, I thought I would share active inventory numbers to show just how squeezed the home market is by the beach, but especially on the Palos Verdes hill.

Inventory Numbers in Palos Verdes

Anecdotally speaking, our Rancho Palos Verdes listing that debuted last week handled over 100 showings and garnered 20 offers with buyers willing to pay far, far higher than recent comps.

The same can be said for the listing in Palos Verdes Estates’ Malaga Cove on Via Pinale. According to the agent, there were over 150 showings at that property, and it will obviously go well over its asking price. Crazy!

Palos Verdes Estates

In January, the city of Palos Verdes Estates sat at just 38 active listings.

To put that in perspective, Palos Verdes Estates has never had a lower number of homes for sale, ever. The one exception was during a brief period back in 2012/2013, per the MLS statistics.

There is truly a huge squeeze in this city.

Rancho Palos Verdes

Rancho Palos Verdes sat at 60 active homes on market in the month of January.

While that number is not a record low, Rancho Palos Verdes rarely ever sees its inventory dip below 100 outside of the slow holiday season.

Without question, here too, there is a massive inventory squeeze.

Rolling Hills Estates

For the city of Rolling Hills Estates, January active inventory was at just 13 homes in total. That is an absolute all-time record low.

Typically, Rolling Hills Estates sees inventory trends between 20 and 50 homes on the market at any one time during the year, and that is true for the last 10 years.

Dropping to just 13 available homes is another example of a big squeeze, putting a lot of pressure on buyers.

Inventory Numbers by the Beach

The beach areas have similarly high demand from buyers with certain pockets selling out of its inventory in a matter of days, especially the most affordable options.

Redondo Beach

In Redondo Beach, January offered 92 active listings to perspective buyers, with just 79 homes on the market in December.

That is a low inventory number for Redondo but certainly not a record. Typical inventory levels over the past decade run between 80 and 180 for the affordable beach city.

So, Redondo is at low levels, but not so low that it is without precedent.

Hermosa Beach

January brought 53 active listings to the city of Hermosa Beach.

With Hermosa being such a small city, inventory levels since 2013 often fall below 53 regularly, so this is not a shock for the beachside town.

While the market is still tough for Hermosa buyers, inventory levels are fairly normal.

Manhattan Beach

Finally, the South Bay’s luxury beach city, Manhattan Beach, has active listings sitting at 90 homes in January.

This is a low number, but again, not without precedent. Manhattan Beach over the last 10 years has seen its January inventory below 90 a majority of the time. In fact, there was stretch from October 2012 to February 2016 where active listings were squeezed for 3.5 years where inventory did not go higher than 90 even once.

According to the numbers, inventory is just fine in Manhattan Beach, and has been much worse in the past.

Conclusion

All in all, there are inventory squeezes throughout the Greater Los Angeles area and the state of California.

When it comes to the South Bay markets in my weekly blog, it turns out that the Palos Verdes hill is historically squeezed when it comes to homes for sale. On the flip side, the beach is competitive, but inventory levels are much less squeezed and, in some cases, normal.

Wishing all you buyers the best in finding your perfect home.

Stay patient and don’t let this crazy market bum you out!

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