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Hello, Lomita.
It’s November already, and the end of the year is not too far off. The real estate market has changed, but it’s actually a good time for buyers. Stick around till the end to find out why buying right now might just be perfect for you.
Well, here in Lomita, the median income home values is $959,000. That’s down 2.14% over the last month, but it’s still up 3.82% over the quarter, up 7.74% over the last 12 months, up 21.66% over the last two years, and it’s still up a substantial 29.52% over the last 36 months. In comparison, the median home value in Los Angeles is $852,000, in California, it’s $769,000, and for the entire country, it’s only $349,000. If you wanna find out what your home’s worth right now, go to housesinsouthbay.com and get an accurate valuation.
Hello, everyone, I’m Steven Huhta here from housesinsouthbay.com, bringing you Lomita’s real estate market report for November 2022. Now, remember to like, subscribe, and especially share if you find this of value. And please comment below about what you think is going to happen in the market. It really helps me with research and answering what you find important.
Now, looking back in October, we had 31 homes for sale in Lomita. Out of those 31 active listings, 20 sold. And we had another five pending. Now, those 20 that sold ranged from this 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 1,548 square foot home on a 6,505 square foot lot that sold for $760,000 to this 2,472 square foot, 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath home on a 5,013 square foot lot with a 2 bedroom ADU that sold for $1,220,000. Of those 20 homes that sold, only two went for above the asking price, 16 went for less than asking price, and two sold right at asking price.
Now, we know that prices go up and down is a factor of supply and demand, so we’ll have to wait and see how things are going to play out. The sample size in Lomita’s kind of too small to determine which way things are going with just a month of data. But with 20 sold listings, we would think we’re in a selling frenzy like we were a year ago. But if we look at trends throughout the whole South Bay, we see things are cooling off and slowing down. If you wanna find out more about what the whole South Bay market is, you can check out my other video, which will be a link above or in the description below. Now, talking about supply and demand, we can also look at how long homes are sitting on the market, which is averaging about 30 days right now, which is up 87% from the 16 days it averaged just a year ago. But it’s about average for pre-pandemic market. Now, we would think that with homes sitting longer in the market, that our inventory would be up quite a bit. But it’s actually down ’cause supply side of new listings is also down. Our current month’s supply of homes is only one and a half months. So if no new homes came on the market, we’d sell out in about six weeks. So even with a slowing market, low supply should for now keep prices rather steady.
Now, at the beginning of the video, I talked about the changing market. And for sellers, demand is less. So to maximize how much you make on your home, you can’t just put it up for sale like we’ve been doing the last few years. To maximize the value of your home, you’ll have to prepare your home a little and work with an active agent who’ll aggressively market your property. Now, for tips on maximizing the value of your home, reach out so we can put together a plan that’s right for you.
And for you buyers, this is actually a good time to buy. And you could take advantage of the current market. Now, if you’ve been trying to buy for the last few years, then you know how competitive it’s been to get an offer accepted. Now you have a lot more strength in negotiating an offer that’s right for you. Sellers who’ve been indifferent to your wants and needs because they had so many offers to choose from now have to be a little more accommodating to get their home sold for that maximum price. Yes, interest rates have gone up, making homes less affordable. But that’s also an opportunity in many ways. For one, higher interest rates are softening prices a little bit, and the demand may be giving you some opportunity you didn’t have a year ago. This may allow for you to negotiate some assistance with the purchase, such as repairs, closing costs, or even interest rate buydowns. Remember, you’re not buying that interest rate, you’re buying a home. If interest rates continue to climb, well, you’ve saved money by acting now. And if interest rates fall, you can refinance to that lower rate. If your plan is to live in the home for a long time, you should not be caught up on current interest rates but more so on what fits your family’s budget.
But even more good news for buyers, buying a home is a quality of life purchase, benefiting you and your family in many ways besides what it costs every month. Yes, it costs you more right now to buy. But then once that cost is locked in, it’ll stay the same forever unlike rent which historically keeps going up here in Southern California.
My final thoughts are, is that rising inflation is actually a reason to buy. A home purchase shields and stabilizes your largest monthly cost, your housing cost against inflation. Rents will continue to rise with inflation, whereas a home mortgage will remain the same and build equity over time. History also shows us that once inflation is under control, we’ll probably see lower rates, giving you a chance to lower your payment in the future. But don’t wait until then. When the interest rates go back down, prices will go up again. So don’t be afraid of all the media hype.
No matter what the state of the economy is, you still need a place to live and build those memories with your loved ones. Would you rather be doing that while paying off your home or paying off your landlord’s home?
So for questions on buying, selling, or investing, contact me so I can help.
Bye for now.
