Southern California Real Estate Market Review

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2015 has come and gone, so let's go over the housing market forecast for the market in 2016.

In LA County, the average price for a single family home was $540,000, which is a 4% increase for the year. Homes in LA County are selling for 98.8% of the asking price.

In Orange County, the average price for single family homes was $695,000, which is a 2% increase. Homes in Orange County are selling for 97% of the original asking price.

We have particularly low inventory in Orange County and LA County currently. In fact, both counties have 2.6 months of inventory, which is the lowest inventory we've seen in the past ten years. We expect this to set us up for a very strong 2016.

We are currently experiencing interest rates between 3.75% and 4%. In mid December, the Fed increased interest rates by 0.25%. Although this seems like a slight increase, it profoundly affects your mortgage payments. Additionally, we might experience rate hikes again in 2016.

We expect that the market in Southern California will go up 3% to 5% for 2016. Keep a lookout for affordability. Right now, only 30% of the population in LA County can afford the median sales price. In the OC, only 22% can afford to pay the median sales price. That's why we're not seeing the major increases in price that we saw in 2012 and 2013. Affordability has hit a bit of a plateau.

If you have any questions about today's video, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year, Too!

Considering Buying? Click here to search all homes in your area 

  Considering Selling? Get a Free Home Evaluation

Today we just wanted to reach out for a moment and wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday season from our entire team here at Tim Majka Real Estate Experts. 

We are very appreciative of all the support you have shown to us this past year and because of that, we were able to help over 30 families buy or sell a home. We are looking forward to another great year in 2016, helping even more families realize their dreams of home ownership.

Have a safe, happy, and fun holiday season, everyone! If you have any questions for us, or are interested in buying or selling a home in the near future, give us a call or send us an email. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Is Selling During the Holidays a Good Idea?

First, let’s talk about the cons. The biggest one is that no one wants to spend the time during the holidays to show their home. That is a valid concern, but there are ways you can limit when your home is shown to potential buyers. We can reduce the number of days your home is available for showings, and can even make certain days throughout the holiday season “off-limits” for showings.

The other big con that this presents is moving during the holidays. We can help reduce this problem for you. If your home is for sale in December and scheduled to close at the end of the year, a lot of times we can negotiate either a delayed closing or a 2-4 week rent-back period, so you don’t have to add that stress on your plate until after the holidays are over.

While there are a few drawbacks to listing your home on the market right now, there are also plenty of advantages to selling now that you don’t get at other points in the year.

The biggest pro to selling during the holidays is the low inventory. Right now, we have the lowest level of inventory that we’ve seen in the last 10 years all over Orange County. With less homes to compete against on the market, your home stands out more to buyers.

Another great reason to list right now is because of all the serious buyers out on the market right now, looking to close on a deal before the end of the year, either for personal or tax reasons. A lot of times these buyers don’t mind allowing a rent-back for the holiday season, because they don’t want to move then either.

These are just a few of the pros of selling during the holidays. We have found that this time of year is a great time for home sellers to list their homes and get back the equity they have gained in recent years. If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you!

Considering Buying? Click here to search all homes in your area 

Considering Selling? Get a Free Home Evaluation