Timely Real Estate News…………………………………………………… 3 June 2008
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Roller coaster ride on the Westside….
It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a roller coaster (Santa Monica pier, (have you checked out the new one that was installed last week?), but the current market sure feels like I’m on one now. Like most of you, I read the papers and discover that housing prices are up, down, and sales volumes are half of what they were a year ago. As a Realtor on the Westside, these local, regional or national statistics have had an affect somewhat minimal at times, more so at other times, on what we are seeing in Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills Post Office, Bel-Air and Brentwood. We have consistently bucked these trends, although we do see some dwindling sales volumes — prices are up, volumes down. I must admit that at times, it feels like I and the market are like a bouncing ball… negative articles in the Los Angeles Times, and positive ones on the same day in the Wall Street Journal. What is a girl to believe or do???
There are times that I find myself acting like a ‘cheerleader’ — trying to stay in a positive mode about the real estate market, when everyone else is talking doom and gloom. Yes, there are great buys out there, and if your home is priced correctly, it will sell in less-than-average time. But over these good and not-so-good times since I started the SchifferLine, I have been consistently forthright — giving you the same raw data that I have from the Beverly Hills-Los Angeles Multiple Listing Service. Good or bad, you can count on getting the latest ‘real data’ on your area (as defined by the MLS). So here goes for May, 2008:
Beverly Hills, which continues to lead all Westside areas in median sales prices ($3,775,000), showed another strong increase over last year with a 24% bump, with a MSP of $3,881,000 vs. $3,132,500 in May ‘07. Beverly Hills Post Office had a 30% drop vs. May 2007 with $1,537,000 vs. $2,222,500; Bel-Air had a 27% increase over May of last year with $2,300,000 vs. $1,800,000; and Brentwood had a relatively minor 8% drop in median sales price in May 2008 vs. May 2007 with $1,742,500 vs. $ 1,895,000. These statistics are only reflective of the trending in real estate prices in these communities because some months we will see a large sale ($15 million plus) skew the overall median sales price. The monthly MLS numbers help us track these trends. Like all trends, though, they don’t always reflect individual markets or monthly performances — they’re up and down, just like on a roller coaster.
However, what is clear is that Westside real estate — overall — is in a relative ‘slump’ — sales volumes are down in all areas by as much as 68% (BHPO), 65% (BH), 49% (Bel-Air), and 31% (Brentwood). Prices are holding — but the number of sales are dramatically down.
The market remains strong — so, there you go! Another up/down ride on our new solar powered roller coaster.
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Another party heard from…… First Republic Quarterly Index — Silver lining for the Los Angeles Market
What this Index shows is the 1985-2008 tracking of home prices in the greater Los Angeles area for homes of $1,000,000 +.When the Index started in 1985; a $1 million home was considered prestige-valued homes. The average median today is $2,352,000, dropping down from a high of $2,468,000 in June 2007. The index measures homes with 3,000 to 6,000 square feet, three to six bedrooms, and three to six bathrooms.
The Los Angeles market, according to the last quarter, is “weaker because move-up buyers are staying put”. The market is slow until about $4 million, but the moment you hit that threshold, there is consistent, pent-up demand — the higher the price, the greater the demand.” (“…it’s extraordinary.”) — something we have been saying since we started The SchifferLine over three years ago. The stats from the following communities are being drawn for Los Angeles – “Arcadia, Beverly Hills, Pacific Palisades, Pasadena, Playa del Rey, Santa Monica, Studio City, and the West Los Angeles enclaves of Bel Air, Brentwood and Westwood”. “In producing this index, the data is drawn from an economic data base, years of experience in tracking single-family values; collecting and cross checking data from multiple sources, a weighted balance of repeat sales, comparable sales and physical home characteristic
The First Republic Prestige Home Index for Los Angeles is based on a portfolio representing a cross-section of homes valued at $1 million or more in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.
Values of properties in the portfolio were traced back to 1985 using regression analysis and then calculated for each year as well as for each quarter since the fourth quarter of 1994.
For each home in the portfolio, a market evaluation was performed for each time period taking into account repeat sales, comparable sales, and characteristics such as size of house.
This chart shows changing values of a portfolio of homes selected by First Republic, value of each home produced quarterly
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Green thought
Rather than give you more data, I thought I would do something a little different… Here is the link for you to take a test to see what your carbon footprint is…. it is quite interesting and thought provoking. http://www.conservation.org/act/live_green/Pages/ecofootprint.aspx
Have fun…
