SoCal home sale prices inch down…but they’re still high

Southern California housing prices had been on rise for over a year amid the pandemic-fueled buying frenzy. But in August, things changed…slightly.

The median home sales price across the six-county region fell to $680,000 last month from $681,750 in July, according to the Los Angeles Times, citing DQNews.

Despite the small drop, prices are still high.

L.A. County’s median sales price stood at $785,000 last month, a 13.4 percent increase over August 2020, according to the report. It was the second-highest median price across Southern California behind Orange County’s $900,000.

San Bernardino County recorded the highest year-over-year price growth of the six counties, though it had one of the lowest actual dollar figures. The median sales price there was $465,000, a 22.4 percent increase from August of 2020. The county is still the least expensive one to buy a home of its Southern California neighbors.

The monthly median sales price for the region consistently hit new highs since June 2020 as the industry came off its immediate post-pandemic pause and buyers gobbled up properties.

Price growth accelerated this year amid continued low interest rates. While the median sales price was essentially flat between July and August, last month’s number was still 13.9 percent higher than it was year over year. That’s one of the clearest examples of how much pricing has increased during the pandemic.

Bidding wars have also eased, as has been the case in many markets across the country.

Low mortgage rates, pent-up demand and a flood of investors fueled the post-pandemic housing rush.

Nourmand & Associates agent Jennifer Eckert said some of her buyer clients have decided to step away from the market. “Where maybe we’d see 10 to 15 offers [before], now we see two to five,” she said, according to the Times.

[LAT] — Dennis Lynch