The median price of condos and single-family houses in wealthier pockets of Los Angeles hit $1 million last quarter, marking the 17th quarter in a row that the mid-point has increased year-over-year, a new report from real estate firm Douglas Elliman finds.
Elliman's report looks at "greater LA," an area that includes the Westside, coastal 'hoods, and Downtown, but not South LA or the Valley.
The $1 million price is a 5 percent jump from this time last year, though it's a dip from last quarter's median of $1.01 million. The median remained at or above $1 million for the third consecutive quarter. The high prices are blamed on a static housing supply.
Condos excluded, the median sales price for single-family houses climbed up from $1.45 million last month to $1,455,500, setting a new record.
The number of sales was 2,803, also up over this time last year. That’s just a slight drop from the 2,816 sales that closed last quarter but a 4.1-percent increase over the 2,692 of sales that closed in the third quarter of last year.
While prices are rising, there may be a bit of a "softening" in the luxury section of the market.
If there’s anywhere where the housing market seems to be losing steam, it might be the luxury sector—the top 10 percent of sales. This part of the market is seeing "price trends ... [that] were weaker than overall market," the report says. As report preparer Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel put it, the LA home sales market is "softer at the top."
This may or may not be a trend, says Miller; LA’s had a long run of very solid price growth leading up to this "softening."
The luxury market is hardly flatlining, but, "there’s not the same sense of urgency [in the luxury home market] as there was a year ago," says Miller. One reason? There’s been a big increase in LA’s luxury market inventory.
Unfortunately for people looking to buy non-luxury homes, the middle of the market hasn’t seen the same robust inventory increase that the luxury sector has, so we’re seeing prices that are staying pretty high.
- Elliman Report Q3 2016 [Elliman]