Prices in Los Angeles Housing Market Seemingly Softening

The housing market in the Los Angeles metro area could be coming in for a soft landing as home prices are seemingly leveling off.

New listings on the market have been registering below current median prices, according to data from Housing Wire.

Homes on the market in Greater L.A. take a median 63 days to sell. The median list price is $1.4 million per property, or $700 per square foot.

About 1,437 single-family homes sold last week, indicating that demand is holding steady while supply has been tight. At the same time, 1,097 new listings came online last week with a median list price of around $1.1 million. Of the active listings on the market, 28 percent dropped their price last week.

Lower inventory and relatively fast turnaround times could shift momentum to sellers, although it seems both buyers and sellers might be engaging in some back-and-forth on price negotiations as the market remains competitive.

“Every time you see a market shift there’s what I call a ‘pause period,’ and the pause period is when the buyer and the seller are not seeing eye to eye on what the value of the property is,” Nina Zokhrabyan of Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California told The Real Deal last month.

“Buyers are cautious, sellers are stubborn and everyone is waiting for someone else to blink first,” Aaron Kirman, founder and CEO of Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California, added.

While Los Angeles maintains a low-supply, high-demand market with steady pricing, the story isn’t the same in cities across the country, as trends vary from place to place. Prices might stay high in L.A. thanks to steady demand and limited supply, while Dallas has more balanced conditions as more new listings hit the market. Washington, D.C., meanwhile, has maintained a steady market with fast sales and stable prices.

— Chris Malone Méndez