“What’s happening in real estate?” is the question I get asked the most. Well, it’s been a roller coaster ride and continues to be. March and April (when we couldn’t show houses) were slow, but as soon as it was safe to look at houses, people started to buy and sell again. June’s data suggest that while the COVID pandemic did cause a slowdown in market activity and volume, there are still many people buying and selling homes in Los Angeles and even more are coming off the sidelines each month.
In Los Angeles County overall, the median price increased 4.7% in June 2020 vs June 2019, but the number of closed sales and the number of properties on the market decreased around 25% over this time. But as further evidence that buyers and sellers are returning to the market, there are actually more properties in escrow now than there were the same time last year. Next month’s data should show an increase in the number of closed sales, at least compared to this month.
Some of the luxury markets fared better than others: Bel Air and Beverly Hills Post Office saw large median price decreases, but Santa Monica and Brentwood saw increases in median price. Most areas had a decrease in the number of sales, but closed transactions in Hancock Park and Los Feliz remained the same as last year.
Here are a few of our highlights and takeaways about some of the neighborhoods covered in the June 2020 Micro Market Report for Los Angeles.
Click here to read the full report and to see statistics for even more neighborhoods and counties.
Bel Air – Large decrease in median price and number of sales. Big increase in month’s supply of inventory to 20 months.
Beverly Hills – A massive increase (70%) in median price. And almost 2.5 times as many houses are in escrow now than this time last year. The month’s supply of inventory has also fallen somewhat, although it is still a buyer’s market with 13.5 months’ worth of inventory.
Beverly Hills Post Office – Also saw a massive increase (343% increase) in median price, but the number of sales decreased by over 50%. There were only 6 closed sales, one of them at $26m, which explains why the median is so high. The months’ supply of inventory also more than doubled compared to June 2019; now there is almost 30 months’ worth of inventory, which is one of the highest among all neighborhoods.
Brentwood – Median price increased but the number of sales fell. Month’s supply of inventory increased 72% to almost 18 months’ worth of inventory.
Hancock Park – Median price increased and the number of sales remained the same. There are also fewer houses on the market now and 7.7 months’ supply of inventory.
Los Feliz – Median price fell slightly, but the number of closed sales remain the same. The number of houses for sale also decreased, as did the month’s supply of inventory to 4.7 months. Los Feliz actually has one of the lowest months’ supply of inventory right now.
Pacific Palisades – Large increase in median sale price, but a decrease in closed sales. However, there are almost twice as many houses in escrow as there were last year, so we may see an increase in the number of closed sales in July and August. Months’ supply of inventory increased slightly to 9.3 months.
Santa Monica – Fairly large increase in median sales price, but there was a decrease in the number of closed sales. There are slightly more homes for sale now than last year, but the months’ supply of inventory increased to 11 months.
Sunset Strip/Hollywood Hills West – Mirroring the overall market trends, there was a slight increase in median sale price, but a fairly large decrease in the number of closed sales and properties listed for sale. A slight increase in months’ supply of inventory to 14 months.
Venice – Venice saw the reverse of what is happening in LA at large. Median price fell slightly, but the number of closed sales and the number of pending sales increased. The months’ supply of inventory actually decreased to 10.5 months.