Los Angeles Real Estate News October

Even though real estate is a nationwide business, we all probably know the ins and outs of our own cities the best. I live in Santa Monica…which is to say I live in Los Angeles. While most of you know real estate prices are high and traffic sucks, you may not know the latest news that effects our business. So, I thought I’d take a minute to highlight some of the news stories that are catching my interest.

High Poverty

One of the saddest pieces of news is that California, when factoring in the cost of living, has the nation’s highest poverty rate: 19%. California renters pay around $1,447 per month in rent and utilities, which is $300 above the national average. In Los Angeles surprisingly has a lower average rent – though not by much – of $1,402. Despite this incremental difference, housing costs eats up more monthly income in LA than any other major city.

Inglewood On The Rise

There is a new football stadium coming to Los Angeles and it’s causing a spike in home prices. Since the Rams/Chargers announced the new stadium home prices have increased by 37.3 percent according to Zillow. Prices were already rising in the area and have more than doubled in the last seven years. There is no doubt that this a market on fire.

Zoning Laws Caused the Housing Shortage

An interesting article on Curbed LAoutlined how the city when to great lengths to discourage apartment building and encourage single family housing. While that’s great from an aesthetic standpoint, it’s terrible when the population booms – as it has in southern California. LA and other cities are trying to fix this, but are getting blowback from neighborhood councils.

It’s A Seller’s Market

With houses in the Los Angeles area fetching record prices, sellers pocketed some of the largest profits in the nation in 2017, according to a new report from Zillow.

Across Los Angeles and Orange counties, homeowners last year sold homes for around $137,000 more than the price they paid for the residence, amounting to a 33.1 percent gain in value.

In the city of Los Angeles, jumps in value were even more dramatic. Prices in 2017 were nearly 40 percent higher than what the seller paid, with a median dollar increase of $175,000.