Try to remember back to the days before the recession, the days of the mid-aughts real estate bubble: prices were flying high, everyone was trying out flipping, and houses sold like hotcakes. Then it all fell apart and the country and world were plunged into years of economic pain that most people still haven't recovered from. So let's do it all again! The Los Angeles housing market is making all kinds of new records, surpassing even the most bubblicious heights—in most parts of LA (conveniently excluding largely low-income and non-white South LA), sale prices and the number of sales are higher than ever. Now real estate agent John Graff has put together this depressing infographic to show how the market has become even more frenzied than it was before the recession, when everyone was sure that things would be going great forever. What could go wrong?
Graff only looked at a select but instructive slice of the market: single-family houses with two to four bedrooms sold between January and July of any given year. No condos and no mansions, and a timeframe that allows for a fair comparison with the very latest data. Prices are at bubble highs again and the number of sales has surpassed those highs, but the square footage of houses sold is also swelling back to bubble sizes and the number of days a house spends on the market has shrunk dramatically. Meanwhile, people are staying in their houses way longer now, which shrinks the stock, and wages have been falling for decades, which means houses that are available are less affordable. You can see how it all shakes out in houses selling super-fast and very close to their listing prices.
· Infographic: Before, During & After - Los Angeles and the 2008 Housing Crash [Imgur]
· The Housing Market in Most of Los Angeles is Setting All Kinds of Record Highs [Curbed LA]
