LA County median home price bests pre-recession record

Well, it only took a month for Los Angeles County’s median home prices to go from tying the record high to zooming right by it.

A new report from real estate data company CoreLogic shows that in May 2017, the midpoint sales price for homes in Los Angeles County was $560,500. That price surpasses the pre-recession record of $550,000 set in August 2007.

Across the entire Southern California region, the median sale price reached a near-record $492,000, “the highest for any month since August 2007 when it was $500,000,” according to CoreLogic.

"Healthy demand continues to meet a relatively low inventory of homes for sale, helping to nudge prices higher," said Andrew LePage, research analyst with CoreLogic.

High prices and a lack of access to the wild financing that people had in 2007 (and which contributed to a major economic crash) hints at another housing issue: Affordability “is worse than the rise in prices suggests,” says CoreLogic.

Despite increasingly expensive stock, the number of homes sold increased 4.8 percent over the previous year, with 7,585 homes sold in LA County in May 2017. Compared to last month, the total number of sales rose nearly 19 percent.

The rise in LA County home prices corresponds with the findings of a new report from UCLA that predicts that the costs of housing in Los Angeles is on the rise, and names LA as the country's most unaffordable city for buyers and renters.

• LA County median home price hits $550K [Curbed LA]
• Report: LA is the nation’s most unaffordable housing market—and prices will keep rising [Curbed LA]