September marked record month for LA home prices

Median sales price rose above $700K, propelled by limited inventory and Covid-fueled demand

(iStock)
(iStock)

Limited inventory, low interest rates and coronavirus-fueled demand sent home prices to a record high in September.

For the 7,287 deals that closed last month, the The median sale price was $710,000, according to Zillow data cited by the Los Angeles Daily News.

That was 14.5 percent higher than the September 2019 total and easily broke the $692,750 record set in August.

The number of home sales also reflects a near 20 percent increase year-over-year.

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Other Southern California counties saw similar positive home sale activity. The third quarter was the fastest-selling quarter of the last 14 years across the region.

Orange County’s median home sale price increased 9 percent year-over-year to $785,000 — the highest in the region — and the nearly 3,800 deals marked a 30 percent increase year-over-year.

The median sales prices in Riverside and San Bernardino counties were 14 percent and 13 percent higher, respectively, year-over-year.

Though data isn’t complete, Zillow projects that for the week ending Oct. 17, home price sales would be up 4.2 percent year-over-year, with inventory down 24 percent.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hasn’t topped 3.33 percent since early April and has set record lows throughout the pandemic. In early September, the average rate sunk below 3 percent. [LADN] — Dennis Lynch