Dear Bel Air Crest Neighbor:
First of all, I apologize for the tardiness of this report, I had a myriad of issues that forced the delay. A whirlwind of December real estate and tax news swept us into the new year as we continue to face some of the same challenges we started with 12 months ago — rising home prices, low inventories, and a market that is woefully in need of housing — at all levels. Added to all of this, of course, is the impact of the new tax bill and its effect on real estate.
Let me first recap the year in simpler terms — it was a banner year for home value appreciation as median sales prices in Los Angeles area finally exceeded pre-2007 price levels, although when inflation is considered, we’re still down about 11% in real value. Median sales prices in all of the areas I report were up through the end of November, another positive sign and total sales through the first 11 months were up over 10%. Inventories slightly improved, but not near enough.
The vote is out as to how the just passed tax bill will impact our real estate values. We do know that for any home purchased after 15 December, 2017 the maximum amount of the mortgage is $750,000. For all others there will be no change. This most likely could impact the market as pertains to new purchases. The change in the state, city, and local taxes deductions could also impact the market. As always there are two sides to each story, and some seem to feel that with the increase income deduction we will not feel the impact that much. Obviously, we will need to see what the future brings. Prices are predicted to continue their upward climb.
High-end sales on the Westside had its best record, home sales were sent to their highest level in 11 years. All in all, the real estate market is positioned to remain healthy from a seller’s point of view — buyers will continue to scramble for homes, not only here, but everywhere.
I want to thank Linda G and Vivian D for their contributions to my One Warm Coat Campaign, they both have been most generous. It definitely is not too late for me to come and collect any items you might have, so if you have any coats, sweaters, etc, please contact me – Carole Schiffer, at 310-442-1384.
As for Bel Air Crest, we certainly dodged the bullet with the Skirball Fire! For a while it was pretty dicey. All we needed was for the winds to go in another direction and we would have had a problem, but fortunately the crew from the Emergency Prep Team, and the first responders did an amazing job of making sure we were OK. Will it impact our real estate values? It is too early to know, but I can tell you that it makes an easy story to tell in selling the community when you look at the hills around us which look like a bomb went off, and the amazing beauty of our community which was unscaled. 2017 Proved to be an interesting real estate year for our community. As you can see from the enclosed report, it varied from ’16 in that for the majority of the year, we had many more Custom homes for sale than Canyon homes. But in the last quarters, there were a number of sales.
I look forward to seeing you and working with you to serve all of your real estate needs.
Cordially,
Carole Schiffer
