For Sale in SoCal: In hot market, more homes are getting listed

The number of residences on the market in 4-county region has more than tripled

Southern California homes (Credit: Wikipedia)
Southern California homes (Credit: Wikipedia)

Homeowners in Southern California are increasingly hanging out For Sale signs amid a continued shortage of residential units statewide.

There were 30,215 residences on the market in the four-county SoCal region as of mid-May, an increase of 7,000 since the beginning the year, according to a new study from ReportsonHousing. That’s more than triple the rise of 2,000 over the same period in 2017, according to the Orange County Register, which first reported on the findings.

The uptick could be the result of an attractive seller’s market. Home prices have been soaring in Los Angeles and surrounding areas, as a tight supply keeps driving the median price to record-highs.

A recent report from residential brokerage Pacific Union International found the median home price across the company’s markets rose to $910,000 in March, about 14 percent higher than the same period in 2017.

Combined, closed home sales in the four counties was down 7 percent year over year, to 13,990. The average number of days a home spent on the market also ticked up to 65 days, according to ReportonHousing, from 59 days a year earlier.

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In L.A. County, there have been 3,368 new home listings since January, up from 1,478 in the before. Overall supply stood at 11,417 listings.

The number of closed deals in L.A. County dipped to 5,824, down 9 percent from last year.

California lawmakers continue to address the affordable housing shortage.

On Thursday, a new bill aimed at dramatically increasing housing development statewide passed in the state Senate. Should the bill become law, cities and counties statewide would have to zone enough land to meet 125 percent of the local housing need. [OCR] — Natalie Hoberman