2021 was a historically high year for real estate. While this year looks like it’s cooling, it’s still a great market to sell (limited inventory) or to buy with some buyers sitting on the side lines due to rising interest rates. The median home sale price in Los Angeles County in August 2022 was $905,000, which is down 2.6% from the previous month and is almost the same as it was in August 2021. This represents the fourth month in a row where the median sale price has declined from the previous month, but overall prices are about where they were last year. Coupled with the softening in prices, there were 28% fewer properties sold in August 2022 compared to August 2021, which means that overall sales volume is also down from last year. Average Days on Market has increased significantly as well; now the average Days on Market is 32 days (versus the low point in the Days on Market of only 18 days that occurred in April 2022). The inventory of properties for sale has picked up a bit from the spring months, but is still down slightly from last year.
Overall, these trends suggest that the market is cooling some from the red-hot market we saw in the spring. The rising interest rates have caused some buyers to leave the market (since the cost of borrowing has gone up) so there is less demand and fewer bidding wars, which is keeping prices from increasing as rapidly as we saw last year and the first half of this year.
However, the overall trends seen above in the data for Los Angeles County do not reflect the markets in all areas and neighborhoods. Several neighborhoods, such as Mar Vista and Beverly Hills Post Office, saw their median price increase from the previous month and the previous year, while other neighborhoods, such as Santa Monica and the Pacific Palisades, saw the median prices that were lower than the previous month and the previous year.
Click here to read the full August 2022 Micro Market Report and see how your neighborhood performed. You’ll find statistics from different neighborhoods in Los Angeles and other Southern California counties.