ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT Prices Rise, Sales Strong as Supply Shrinks Survey Finds Pandemic Changes California Homebuying Behavior, Fuels Competition Southiand Regional Association of Reators By Nancy Trowei Camahan, President, and Davd Waker Fueled by record-low interest rates and exceptional demand, home sales and prices rose in the San Femando Valley during November, the Southland Regional Associa- tion of Realtors reported Friday. A total of 473 single-family homes and 173 condominiums closed escrow last month, increases of 11.8 percent and 16.1 percent, respec- tively, compared to November A renewed interest in homeownership during the COVID-19 pan- demic has changed homebuyers' housing choices, widened the imbalance between housing supply and demand in Califomia, and created a more competitive housing market than ever before. Those were the central findings of the 2020 Annual Housing Market Survey conducted recently by the California Association of Realtors With remote working becoming the norm, buyers' housing demand is evolving. Since the coronavirus outbreak, more than two of five Realtors - 43.6 percent - saw a change in buyers preferences in the property type they wanted to purchase. The central changes included: 39 percent said their buyers were opting for a bigger home; 35 percent said buyers were opting for a property with more rooms, 37 percent said buyers were less concemed about the commute time to work; 37 percent said buy- ers were opting to live in spiked in the summer and reached a suburb rather than a city, and; 26 percent said buy- ers were opting to live in soN rural areas rather than cities or suburbs. More people were buying vacation or second homes this year as its share of total sales rose to the highest level in four years. The flexibility to work from home and the desire to move from metropolitan areas mo- tivated homebuyers to relocate to resort communities in search of more space and a healthier lifestyle. The top three reasons buyers purchased a home remained the same as last year- 25 percent bought because they were tired of renting, and 20 percent bought because they desired a larger home. Another 19 percent bought because they desired a better location. SOUTHLAND REGIONAL AssocIA ION OF REALTORS', INC. Voice of Real Estate 2020 1920 The share of first-time homebuyers but beginning in July, every month since has exceeded year ago activity. Same story for condominiums: the stay-at-home orders saw condo sales plunge to a record low 66 in May, A 5- or 6-month supply is what's needed in a mature market as large as the San Fernando Valley. For perspective, during the recession of July 1992 the active inventory tally the record the highest level in 10 years. 38.4% *.. Only May and October had more high of 14,976 listings. The than 1,000 listings, and that's not national aver- age interest October as seasonal forces came into enough to satisfy normal demand.' rate then was 8.13 percent. The most recent report from Freddie Mac pinned the current national interest rate at 2.71 percent. The median price of homes that closed escrow during November was $810,000, up 9.6 percent from a year ago. The record high of $852,000 tang un Averoge7.2% Nancy Tronol Camahan, 2019. SRAR 2020 President Both were down from 20% play and a lack of inventory limited activity. We have four powerful forces shaping today's residential real estate market," said Nancy Troxell Carnahan, the 2020 president of the 10,300-member Southland Regional leading the charge, and bumped Association of Realtors. "The Coro- but the tide changed in July after real estate was deemed an essential service. That's when buyers jumped into the market, with first-fime buyers ON head first into an inventory that set was set this August. The 173 condominiums that closed escrow in November had a median price meaning half were higher and half lower-of Total Active Listings - Combined Residential $490,000. That was up 8.9 percent from a year ago and just below the record high $495,000 median, also set in With the cost of borrowing at historic lows, buying a home makes more sense than renting for many first-time buyers. August. The heated competition seen in the recent months is likely to continue, even as holidays ap- proach and seasonal forces temper Homes for sale received more multiple offers, and the average number of offers reached their highest levels since 2013. Nearly two-thirds of homes sold in 2020 received multiple offers at an average of 4.8 offers per home. In 2019, less than half of homes sokd received multiple offers with an average of 3.9 offers on each home. Further illustrating the high level of competitiveness this year, a bigger share of properties was sold above their asking price in 2020. Over a third-35.5 percent-of homebuyers paid more than what home sellers asked for this year, compared to 26.7 percent in 2019. In fact, this year's level is the highest in seven years and is 16 percent higher than the long-run average. While all price segments were more competitive than the prior year, market competition varied between price segments. Mid-priced range homes $500,000 to $1 million-were the most sought after with 67.3 percent receiving multiple offers. They also received the most multiple offers-6 offers - were the most likely to receive an offer at or above the asking price and sold the fastest-10 days. Home listings flew off the shelves at record pace in 2020, and more homes sokd above asking price. The survey suggests that home sellers typically pocketed a net gain of $210,000 from their home sale -a 63.8 cent increase from the purchase price. Sellers who lived in their home for less than five years typically camed a 16.5 percent profit from their sale, while those who lived in their house five or more years typically camed a 100 percent profit. Mar Apr May Sept L 1, 100 activity. At the end of November there record lows in December 2019 and had been near or at crisis levels for navirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders triggered a desire for larger homes and made renters want to be homeowners. Record-low interest rates on home loans offset rising prices. A near record-low inventory vielded multiple offers. And an af- fordability and availability crisis that predated the pandemic kept some buyers at bay. "But mix them all together," she said, "and it's easy to understand why sales have made up ground lost to the COVID-19 lockdown." Local home sales plunged to a record low 238 transactions in May, were 659 open escrows pending, up 25.3 percent from a year ago. The Southland Regional Association of Real tors is a local trade association with more than 10,300 members serving the San Fer nando and Santa Clarita Valleys. SRAR is one of the largest local associations in the nation. years. "The economic shutdown in May gave the inventory a chance to catch up slightly," said Tim Johnson, the Association's chief executive officer. "The key word is slightly, 'because only May and October had more than 1,000 listings, and that's not enough to satisfy normal demand." The 890 active listings reported at the end of November were down 8.6 percent from the prior year and rep- resented a mere 1.4-month supply at the current pace of sales. Interest Rate Update As reported by Freddie Mac on: December 10 30-Yr FRM - 2.71% 15-Yr FRM - 2.26% December 3 30-Yr FRM - 2.71% 15-Yr FRM - 2.26% THE VOICE OF REAL ESTATE IN THE SAN FERNANDO AND SANTA CLARITA VALLEYS www.SRAR.com | Real Estate Questions? E-mail Nancy Troxell Carmahan, SRAR 2020 President, c/o DavidW@SRAR.com REALTORS is a federally registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a Member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. 2005 2006 2007 200 2009 201 2012 2016 2019 2020 ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT Prices Rise, Sales Strong as Supply Shrinks Survey Finds Pandemic Changes California Homebuying Behavior, Fuels Competition Southiand Regional Association of Reators By Nancy Trowei Camahan, President, and Davd Waker Fueled by record-low interest rates and exceptional demand, home sales and prices rose in the San Femando Valley during November, the Southland Regional Associa- tion of Realtors reported Friday. A total of 473 single-family homes and 173 condominiums closed escrow last month, increases of 11.8 percent and 16.1 percent, respec- tively, compared to November A renewed interest in homeownership during the COVID-19 pan- demic has changed homebuyers' housing choices, widened the imbalance between housing supply and demand in Califomia, and created a more competitive housing market than ever before. Those were the central findings of the 2020 Annual Housing Market Survey conducted recently by the California Association of Realtors With remote working becoming the norm, buyers' housing demand is evolving. Since the coronavirus outbreak, more than two of five Realtors - 43.6 percent - saw a change in buyers preferences in the property type they wanted to purchase. The central changes included: 39 percent said their buyers were opting for a bigger home; 35 percent said buyers were opting for a property with more rooms, 37 percent said buyers were less concemed about the commute time to work; 37 percent said buy- ers were opting to live in spiked in the summer and reached a suburb rather than a city, and; 26 percent said buy- ers were opting to live in soN rural areas rather than cities or suburbs. More people were buying vacation or second homes this year as its share of total sales rose to the highest level in four years. The flexibility to work from home and the desire to move from metropolitan areas mo- tivated homebuyers to relocate to resort communities in search of more space and a healthier lifestyle. The top three reasons buyers purchased a home remained the same as last year- 25 percent bought because they were tired of renting, and 20 percent bought because they desired a larger home. Another 19 percent bought because they desired a better location. SOUTHLAND REGIONAL AssocIA ION OF REALTORS', INC. Voice of Real Estate 2020 1920 The share of first-time homebuyers but beginning in July, every month since has exceeded year ago activity. Same story for condominiums: the stay-at-home orders saw condo sales plunge to a record low 66 in May, A 5- or 6-month supply is what's needed in a mature market as large as the San Fernando Valley. For perspective, during the recession of July 1992 the active inventory tally the record the highest level in 10 years. 38.4% *.. Only May and October had more high of 14,976 listings. The than 1,000 listings, and that's not national aver- age interest October as seasonal forces came into enough to satisfy normal demand.' rate then was 8.13 percent. The most recent report from Freddie Mac pinned the current national interest rate at 2.71 percent. The median price of homes that closed escrow during November was $810,000, up 9.6 percent from a year ago. The record high of $852,000 tang un Averoge7.2% Nancy Tronol Camahan, 2019. SRAR 2020 President Both were down from 20% play and a lack of inventory limited activity. We have four powerful forces shaping today's residential real estate market," said Nancy Troxell Carnahan, the 2020 president of the 10,300-member Southland Regional leading the charge, and bumped Association of Realtors. "The Coro- but the tide changed in July after real estate was deemed an essential service. That's when buyers jumped into the market, with first-fime buyers ON head first into an inventory that set was set this August. The 173 condominiums that closed escrow in November had a median price meaning half were higher and half lower-of Total Active Listings - Combined Residential $490,000. That was up 8.9 percent from a year ago and just below the record high $495,000 median, also set in With the cost of borrowing at historic lows, buying a home makes more sense than renting for many first-time buyers. August. The heated competition seen in the recent months is likely to continue, even as holidays ap- proach and seasonal forces temper Homes for sale received more multiple offers, and the average number of offers reached their highest levels since 2013. Nearly two-thirds of homes sold in 2020 received multiple offers at an average of 4.8 offers per home. In 2019, less than half of homes sokd received multiple offers with an average of 3.9 offers on each home. Further illustrating the high level of competitiveness this year, a bigger share of properties was sold above their asking price in 2020. Over a third-35.5 percent-of homebuyers paid more than what home sellers asked for this year, compared to 26.7 percent in 2019. In fact, this year's level is the highest in seven years and is 16 percent higher than the long-run average. While all price segments were more competitive than the prior year, market competition varied between price segments. Mid-priced range homes $500,000 to $1 million-were the most sought after with 67.3 percent receiving multiple offers. They also received the most multiple offers-6 offers - were the most likely to receive an offer at or above the asking price and sold the fastest-10 days. Home listings flew off the shelves at record pace in 2020, and more homes sokd above asking price. The survey suggests that home sellers typically pocketed a net gain of $210,000 from their home sale -a 63.8 cent increase from the purchase price. Sellers who lived in their home for less than five years typically camed a 16.5 percent profit from their sale, while those who lived in their house five or more years typically camed a 100 percent profit. Mar Apr May Sept L 1, 100 activity. At the end of November there record lows in December 2019 and had been near or at crisis levels for navirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders triggered a desire for larger homes and made renters want to be homeowners. Record-low interest rates on home loans offset rising prices. A near record-low inventory vielded multiple offers. And an af- fordability and availability crisis that predated the pandemic kept some buyers at bay. "But mix them all together," she said, "and it's easy to understand why sales have made up ground lost to the COVID-19 lockdown." Local home sales plunged to a record low 238 transactions in May, were 659 open escrows pending, up 25.3 percent from a year ago. The Southland Regional Association of Real tors is a local trade association with more than 10,300 members serving the San Fer nando and Santa Clarita Valleys. SRAR is one of the largest local associations in the nation. years. "The economic shutdown in May gave the inventory a chance to catch up slightly," said Tim Johnson, the Association's chief executive officer. "The key word is slightly, 'because only May and October had more than 1,000 listings, and that's not enough to satisfy normal demand." The 890 active listings reported at the end of November were down 8.6 percent from the prior year and rep- resented a mere 1.4-month supply at the current pace of sales. Interest Rate Update As reported by Freddie Mac on: December 10 30-Yr FRM - 2.71% 15-Yr FRM - 2.26% December 3 30-Yr FRM - 2.71% 15-Yr FRM - 2.26% THE VOICE OF REAL ESTATE IN THE SAN FERNANDO AND SANTA CLARITA VALLEYS www.SRAR.com | Real Estate Questions? E-mail Nancy Troxell Carmahan, SRAR 2020 President, c/o DavidW@SRAR.com REALTORS is a federally registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a Member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. 2005 2006 2007 200 2009 201 2012 2016 2019 2020