“Recent changes in the housing market on a national scale have translated to even better news for us on the Westside. While the country’s nine month inventory of July 2011 has dropped to six month this past July, that can only be recast into tighter terms for the Westside. The national President of Coldwell Banker told some of us in a meeting last week that the NAR will be forecasting increases of 4.5% for the remainder of 2012 and 5% through 2013 in housing nationwide. Further, permits, applications to build and other housing starts are all up throughout the country. Days on Market have decreased from 98 days in 2011 to the current 69 days through this period of 2012, a 29.8% decrease.
All of this translates into the heated housing market we now have on the Westside of Los Angeles. It doesn’t take a genius to see the low inventory in condos and single family residences, as well as the stiffening of resolve on the part of the Sellers. The tables have changed and the Sellers are now back in charge of the agenda; the bottom has come and gone.
I still feel strongly about these interest rates and what they represent to a Buyer. If you’re in the market as a Buyer, you need to pull the trigger now. You missed the bottom on pricing, but still have an opportunity to take advantage of historically low interest rates. In several years, we will all be kicking ourselves and asking “Why didn’t I buy two or three of those?”
