Lomita Real Estate Market Report for February 2023.

Lomita California Real Estate Market Report for February 2023. Find out what is happening in the fast changing real estate market. Interest rates and inflation are continuing to make an impact on the buyers and sellers of residential real estate.

Hello Lomita, its February already, where did 1/12 of the year already go? 

The real estate market has changed, let’s first look at the numbers and then stick around until the end to find out how can take advantage of the current market.

The median estimated home value here in Lomita is at $847,000 and which is up 2.05% over last month, it’s down 4.82% over the quarter, and up .94% over the last twelve months. It is still up 15.33% over the last two years and up a substantial 22.33% over the last 36 months.

The short term peak of the market was somewhere in the middle of last year and if you remember last year was absolutely crazy with people paying well above the asking price to purchase a home. Prices have softened since then but it is nowhere near the doom and gloom market crash the media likes to talk about.

We can also see that we are still up 15.33% from two years ago. Remember that historically home appreciation is only at 3.5% to 4% a year so we are still doing pretty good and well above average for home values.

In comparison, the median value in Los Angeles is $814,000, in California it’s $741,000 and for the entire country, it’s only $342,000. If you want to find out what your home is worth right now, go to housesinsouthbay.com and get an accurate valuation or leave a comment below and I will send you a free report.

Hello everyone Steven Huhta here from Houses in South Bay dot com. Bringing you the Lomita real estate market report for February 2023. 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 your important questions.

Looking back in January we had 18 homes for sale in Lomita. Out of those 18 active listings, only 3 sold, and we had another 5 pending. Those 3 that sold ranged from this 3 bedroom 1 1/2 bath 1477 square foot home on a 5,643 square foot lot, that sold for $799,000 to this 2,182 square foot 4 bedroom 2 bath home on a 7,886 square foot lot that sold for $ 1,200,000. Of those 3 homes that sold all 3 of them went for less than the asking price.

We know that prices going up and down is a factors of supply and demand and if you have been following the news we know that demand is way down, as we can see by only 3 sales in January, and that is because of uncertainty in the market mainly due to rising interest rates and inflation.

So we would think that shrinking demand would of course push prices lower. But lets take a look at why values actually went up this month and why we don’t think prices will crash in the near term.

It’s the supply side, which is a combination of new listings coming into the market and existing inventory already sitting on the market.

Looking back all the way to 2008 we can see that new listings are at some of the lowest levels in the last 15 years and that existing homes on the market are also near the bottom.

So yes demand is low, and demand is dropping faster than supply so that is why we saw those price drops.

However, we believe that as we get used to our current interest rates and inflation, demand will rise and keep the market stable and even go up a little this year.

A factor of supply and demand is how long homes sit on the market which is averaging 35 days right now with the median days on market at 41 days.

But the best way to look at how the supply and demand balance out, is with inventory months of supply, which is at 2.1 months of supply right now showing that supply and demand are still fairly balanced and that prices at least for the short term should be stable. If we see that inventory level go up to about 3.5 to 4 months supply that is when we would start talking about a stagnate market and above 5 months we would see a declining market.

This is why it’s important for your realtor to be on top of all of these numbers. We need to know how all of these numbers interact, to better advise our clients on how to price and position their homes when selling and how best to help our buyers take advantage of any opportunities in the market. So even with a slowing market, low supply should for now keep prices rather steady.

At the beginning of this video, I talked about taking advantage of the changing market.

For sellers, demand is less so to maximize how much you make from your home you can’t just put it up for sale like we have been used to for the last few years. To maximize the value of your home you will have to prepare your home a little. That can range from simple decluttering to doing some deferred maintenance, simple repairs or even some renovations. You also need an active and aggressive agent to market your property to the most potential buyers. If you are looking to maximize the value of your home reach out so we can put together a plan that is right for you.

And for you buyers, If you have been trying to buy for the last few years then you know how competitive it has been to get an offer accepted. Now you have a lot more strength in negotiating an offer that is right for you. Sellers who have 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 homes sold for the maximum price. This may allow you to negotiate some assistance with the purchase, such as repairs, closing costs, or even having the seller help buy down your interest rate.

Yes, we keep hearing about interest rates but remember you are not buying an interest rate, you are buying a home. If interest continues to climb you will have 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 and needs.

Even better for buyers – buying a home, is a quality-of-life purchase, benefiting you and your family in many ways besides what it cost every month. Yes, it cost you more right now to buy but once that cost is locked in it will stay the same forever unlike rent which historically keeps going up here in Southern California.

My final thought 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 will probably see lower interest. Giving you a chance to lower your payment in the future but don’t wait until then, when interest goes back down prices will go up also.

So don’t be afraid of all of the media hype. No matter the state of the economy you still need a place to live and build memories with your loved ones. Would you rather be doing that, while paying off your own home or paying off your landlord’s home? 

For questions on buying selling or investing contact me so I can help.

Bye for now.