Palos Verdes Real Estate

January 2023 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor:

As I usually do this time of year, I read back thru my newsletters for 2022, and they read like a history of the real estate market in 2022.  A year ago I was predicting the imminent demise of the Covid-driven hot market of the previous 2 years.  Me in January 2022:  “There are definite signs of slowing”; March 2022:  “The market is still strong, [but] I advise against waiting till Spring to put your house on the market”; May 2022:  “It’s fairly clear to me that the market is cooling off – rising prices and rising interest rates are having the predictable effect . . . if you’re planning to sell in the next year or two, do it now”; July 2022:  the market “ is now coughing and sputtering as such cycles have done in the past.  There are now 3 times the number of homes for sale in PV as there were 3 months ago.  If you are planning to sell in the next year or two . . .and haven’t heeded my advice before, heed it now”; September 2022: “As we head down the back side of the recent meteoric rise in real estate prices . . . “; November 2022:  “In California, the median home price is down 8.7% from the peak in May, and fell 2.1% during September”.  Those of us with our ear to the ground spent the first half of 2022 sensitive to any sign that the boom was ending.

In retrospect, it is clear that the market peaked in June, 2022.  I would say, just subjectively, that prices are down 10-12% from their peaks.  This is a difficult statistic to glean accurately, since the “average sale price” can be affected by the sale of more or less expensive properties, and doesn’t necessarily indicate that the value of a specific property has changed by that amount.  But, caveats in place, on the Palos Verdes Peninsula there were 328 sales January-June with an average sale price of $2,919,941, and 254 sales July-December with an average sale price of $2,526,786.  So by that rather cursory analysis, prices have dropped 13.5% — fairly rapid for a 6 month period (see caveat above).  One reason is that we are no longer getting 8-10 offers on everything that comes out, which resulted in some clearly-above-market sales.

All of that having been said, prices are still well-above pre-Covid levels and, somewhat incongruously, there is still a relatively small number of homes for sale – only 68 on the entire Peninsula, though I expect some are waiting for the new year to go on the market.  Give me a call at 310 613-1076 if you’d like to talk.  My website (www.DanaGraham.com) also has lots of real estate information and Palos Verdes history from the point of view of a long time resident (me).

Meanwhile, the Palos Verdes Historical Society, of which I am President, is sponsoring a once in a lifetime talk at La Venta Inn by one of the owners on February 8 at 4 pm.  The capacity is limited and this event will sell out, so if you’re interested, don’t delay.  The flyer is enclosed. 

If you are looking at buying, I recommend calling me.  With so few houses for sale, it will help you a lot to become aware of houses before they come on the market and have a chance to buy them without the impending competition.  As to buying, exposing the house to a limited number of qualified buyers before going on the market can pay dividends and avoid the hassle of living in a fishbowl.  Either way, I have a system for this and we should talk if you’re interested.

Have a great 2023, and thank you for your continued support.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Sincerely,

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Dana H Graham                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        DRE #00877973

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2023 at 1:26 pm and is filed under Buyers, Everything I've Written, Newsletters, Palos Verdes Information, Real Estate General Info, Sellers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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