Malibu, Santa Monica post big home price gains in Q2: report

New second quarter numbers show the single-family home market in Los Angeles is tightening, but that sales momentum across the broader Southern California region may be slowing.

Across Greater Los Angeles, average days on the market declined to 79 days from 84 days and the average sales price increased by 13 percent in the second quarter of 2018 compared to the same time last year, according to a report released by Sotheby’s International Realty over the weekend.

Homes moved the fastest in West Hollywood and the combined Silver Lake and Echo Park areas, spending 54 days on the market on average in both markets. That’s 25 and 28 percent faster than last year, respectively.

Of the high-end areas of L.A., Malibu had the strongest quarter. The median sales price jumped 32.6 percent to $3.4 million from the second quarter of 2017. Homes spent an average of 105 days on the market, a 32 percent decrease from 2017. Santa Monica saw a similar percentage rise in median sales price up to $3.1 million.

Beverly Hills Post Office saw the most significant drop in median sales price, down 20.5 percent to $2.7 million from $3.4 million last year. It also saw a 22 percent rise in days on the market, up to 114 on average.

While homes seemed to move faster in the Greater L.A. region in the second quarter, momentum may be slowing in the Southern California region, as sales retreated last month to their slowest June in four years.

For the region, pricing went up 7.3 percent to $536,000, a new record. But the only counties in the region to see a rise in the number of sales in May were L.A. County, by 3.4 percent, and San Bernardino, with a 1 percent rise.