Single family home in LA (Credit: LHA)
The news isn’t good for Los Angeles home hunters. New data shows that prices keep going up and homes keep flying off the market.
The report from Pacific Union International found that the median price of a home price across the brokerage’s markets stood at $910,000 in March, about 14 percent higher than the same period last year. The data spans homes from the San Gabriel Valley to the Westside and San Fernando Valley.
The rise in prices is largely because of a lack of supply, according to Pacific Union’s chief economist, Selma Hepp
“The last time we saw this level was in 2013, one of the strongest years for prices in L.A., and the inventory is about half the level it was then,” Hepp said.
Competition for homes is tight across the city, the data found. Homes are selling in around 30 days, almost one week less than they did last year. And about 45 percent of homes sold above the asking price, up from 38 percent a year ago.
Affordable homes in particular are scarce. Sales of homes below $1 million dropped 17 percent year-over-year, because “ inventory is rapidly disappearing,” Hepp said. By contrast, sales of homes in the next highest bracket — between $2 million and $3 million — were up 20 percent. They were up 28 percent for homes listed above $3 million.
A shortage of affordable housing has gripped L.A. for years, leading to recent calls in the state legislature for an overhaul. Adocates of a hotly-debated bill, SB 827, said it would have greatly increased the city’s capacity for housing by overriding local laws to allow dense multifamily development near transit. That bill died in committee last week, with opponents saying it would encourage luxury development and take power local lawmakers.
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