Los Angeles County home sales fall 23% as payments soar 42%
Los Angeles County homebuying cooled by 23% vs. June 2021 as house hunters were scared off by 42% higher house payments.
Across Southern California, 20,289 single-family, condominium, existing and newly constructed homes — sold in six counties, down 1% for the month, and down 25% over the past year, says a DQNews report. The region’s median price of $750,000 was down 1% for the month, and up 11% over 12 months.
My trusty spreadsheet found similar signs of a swiftly slowing market in the DQNews numbers on closed transactions in Los Angeles County in June …
Sales
Total: 6,628 Los Angeles County residences sold. This was the No. 3 slowest June of the 35 since 1988.
One-month change: 1% increase from May. Since 1988, sales have fallen in June 21% of the time with an average 6.0% increase from May.
12-month change: 23% decrease — No. 34 biggest decline since 1988 (or only 8% worse months.)
Year-to-date: Off 13% vs. 2021.
Pre-pandemic: June sales were 9% below the 7,299 average June, 2010-2019.
Prices:
The median: $860,000 countywide for all homes — flat for the month and up 8.9% in a year. Record L.A. high? $865,000 set in April.
One-month trend: Since 1988, a typical June had prices dip 77% of the time with with an average 1.5% gain.
One-year trend: Smallest increase in 22 months. Latest gain tops 64% of all 12-month periods since 1988.
Downpayment: $172,000 at 20%, up $14,000 in a year.
Pandemic era? 14 price records have been broken since February 2020. The median’s $240,000 increase equals a gain of $11.71 every hour over these 28 months.
Key slices
Existing single-family houses: 4,569 sold, down 22% in a year. Median of $935,000 was up 9% over 12 months.
Existing condos: 1,807 sales, down 23% over 12 months. Median of $710,000 was up 12% in a year.
Newly built: Builders sold 252 new homes, down 37% in a year. Median of $1,005,000 was up 31% over 12 months.
Builder share: 3.8% of sales vs. 4.7% a year earlier.
Bigger picture
Rates: How pricey has money become? Rates on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.24% in the three months ending in June vs. 3.00% a year earlier. That translates to 24% less buying power for house hunters. (Larger drops occurred only 1% of the time since 1971.)
Payment pain: Changing rates meant a buyer paid $3,796 a month for Los Angeles’s $860,000 median priced-residence vs.$2,665 monthly on a $790,000 median 12 months earlier. So prices rose 9% vs. a house payment’s 42% increase.
Downpayment: 20% down was $172,000 last month, up $14,000 in a year.
What sellers are thinking: Owners had 20% more homes for sale in Los Angeles and Orange counties inventory in June than 12 months earlier — No. 27 of 50 big metros, says Realtor.com. Inland Empire supply rose 72% — No. 5 of the 50.
Price cuts: 15.1% of L.A.-O.C. listings had price reductions — No. 18 in the nation, Realtor.com says. Meanwhile, 19.8% of I.E. listings had price cuts, — No. 7 of the metros.
Affordability: Ponder how much house you get for $1 million, according to Zillow. Los Angeles County buyers get 1,684 square feet — 33% smaller than the U.S. average of 2,528. Orange County is 1,687 square feet (33% smaller), San Bernardino County is 2,582 square feet (2% larger), and Riverside County is 3,032 square feet (20% larger).
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com