As school starts and Labor Day weekend is upon us, rather than skip a blog post, I wanted to share some quick real estate notes to quench the thirst of our real estate readers.
My quick notes this week will cover three topics:
- Latest Case-Shiller Index on national home prices.
- MLS-wide inventory in July and how it stacks up historically.
- Notable South Bay sales.
Case-Shiller Index on Home Prices
The S&P Case-Shiller Index was released for the month of June this week.
Home prices across the country hit a record high. Nationally, prices were higher by 5.4% compared to June of last year.
What I find amazing with these record high price results is that mortgage interest rates started to fall meaningfully at the end of July and into August. So, these results, despite 30-year rates sitting at close to 7% in June (according to the St. Louis FRED), the national market continues to steadily grow.
This all despite affordability issues throughout the country, and of course, one of the worst cases of affordability in California we have seen (check out my previous blog post if you missed it: “South Bay Real Estate Q2 Housing Affordability”).
It seems that despite affordability issues and high rates, the national, statewide, and local South Bay home markets are stable to rising which is amazing considering the headwinds home buyers face today.
Local Inventory in July & Historical Trends
As readers know, many pundits and agents (including myself) look to rising inventory to see if there is pending weakness in the home market.
And while weakness is the wrong term, it is more so looking for “relief” to home buyers, not just falling rates, but with more inventory. More inventory equals more options and competition for sellers to back off record pricing.
I pulled CRMLS July inventory levels over the past decade for all of Los Angeles County. Let’s take a look…
- July 2024: 13,274
- July 2023: 10,960
- July 2022: 15,239
- July 2021: 14,467
- July 2020: 16,218
- July 2019: 19,425
- July 2018: 18,761
- July 2017: 17,835
- July 2016: 21,865
- July 2015: 22,163
As you can see, Los Angeles County inventory is still low.
Yes, reports of rising inventory are true but if you look back over the past 10 years then you will see that we are still at the second lowest inventory levels in a decade.
Not to mention, if you zoom out 20 years, inventory was even higher.
There is no question that inventory is beginning to rise, however, we are still a far cry from a normalized inventory market pre-Coronavirus pandemic.
Certainly, there is a long way to go for inventory levels to climb before it is a threat to our local markets.
Notable South Bay Sales
It is worth highlighting some notable sales as we head to the long Labor Day weekend.
BIG Manhattan Beach Transaction
1800 The Strand
5-beds, 6-baths, 5,329 sq. ft., built in 2000
SOLD: $24,500,000 (July 2024)
This south-facing corner lot is THE highest closed transaction on the MLS in Manhattan Beach, ever. It beat the previous record of $21 million at 1000 The Strand back in 2017.
While we have come to expect high-priced residential property sales in Manhattan Beach, this is only the third listing to close above $20 million, and quite an amazing feat any way you slice it.
Nice Gain in Palos Verdes Estates
You do not see expensive view properties purchased and resold in a short time period that often. And when you do, it is normally at a loss…but not in the case of this PVE sale.
856 Rincon Lane
4-beds, 6-baths, 5,653 sq. ft., built in 2009
SOLD: $8,072,000 (July 2024)
This property came out asking $8.2 million (a reasonable price) and made a deal in just ten days.
What’s more, this property was purchased in August of 2019, which of course was nice timing before the pandemic, and acquired for $6.6 million. Just five years later earning about a $1.4 million mark-up is not too shabby on a short ownership period on a home of this significance.
There you have it. I hope you enjoyed the quick notes and quick read. Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!