Has Southern California’s homebuying rebound run out of steam?
Total inventory is down 31% in a year.
Southern California’s homebuying market could be losing steam after two straight weeks of declining sales contracts.
My trusty spreadsheet looked at Zillow’s weekly report on activity from brokers’ listing services in the region and found 3,500 existing homes were put into escrow in the week ended July 11 — down 6% from the previous week and the second decline following a 10-week rise from the coronavirus-linked economic meltdown.
Please note the week’s sales contracts in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties were 2% above year-ago levels. And, the past 30 days’ buying pace of 15,665 new escrows is up 1% vs. the early July 2019 pace.
An uncertain employment picture may be overcoming historically low mortgage rates that put house hunters in a buying mood. The local housing market is also challenged by a lack of sellers worried about economic turmoil created by “stay at home” orders designed to slow a pandemic’s spread. California’s U-turn on business reopenings doesn’t help consumer confidence.
Southern California owners listed 4,928 homes for sale in the latest week — up 4% vs. the previous week but down 18% in a year. That put total inventory at 27,577 — down 2% vs. the previous week and down 31% in a year.
How the data broke down in Los Angeles and Orange counties …
New escrows: 1,981 contracts signed — down 10% in a week; up 3% in a month; down 3% over 12 months.
Past 30 days: 8,981 new escrows — down 5% in a year. That’s an improvement compared to a 20% drop four weeks earlier.
New listings: 3,185 over seven days — up 7% vs. the previous week; up 16% in a month; down 16% in a year.
Comments
Post a Comment