SoCal home prices keep rising while supply dwindles

The Southern California seller’s market continues, as home prices keep rising and listings keep falling.

The median sales price for a home in the six-county region in February was $619,750, or 15 percent higher than the same period last year, according to the Los Angeles Times. There were also 17.6 percent more sales last month, year-over-year. February home prices were also up significantly across the region compared to January numbers.

L.A. County remains the second-most expensive county in Southern California. Countywide, the median sales price rose 14.3 percent to $708,500 last month, compared to the same period in 2020. And sales were up 19.1 percent.

Orange County set a new median sales price record at $820,000, a 9.6 percent increase year-over-year. And sales were up 13 percent.

A dearth of listings has contributed to rising prices. The number of homes that hit the market in the four weeks ending on March 7 was just 4 percent higher than in February 2020, according to the report, citing Redfin.

Some existing homeowners are hesitant to buy a new home because of the competition, so they in turn aren’t listing their properties, the report noted.

Many homeowners have chosen instead to refinance their mortgages at low interest rates, though mortgages have inched up to the highest they’ve been since July, so the rate of refis may decline.

[LAT] — Dennis Lynch