Update on Market Conditions—October, 2008

I’ve recently been working with Buyers who are frustrated with home prices in Santa Monica. “Why aren’t they lower?” they ask. They read the headlines filled with dire financial news and then go out to look at homes and are dismayed that prices aren’t lower.

The answer is location, location, location. Compare the number of sales in Santa Monica from the third quarter of 2007 to the third quarter of 2008.

	Q3 2007	Q3 2008
Single Family Home – Number Sold	54	63
Single Family Home – Median Price	$1,179,000	$1,610,000
Condo/Townhouse – Number Sold	96	97
Condo/Townhouse – Median Price	$775,000	$750,000

That’s right…the number of sales went up year over year.

Well, what about median prices?

Prices for single-family homes went up, due in part to higher priced homes making up a higher percentage of sales. Prices of condos edged down, year over year, a little over three percent.

As of October 8, there are 94 single-family homes and 176 condos on the market in Santa Monica. What the immediate future holds with all the financial turmoil and the elections I can’t say. If I could, I’d be in the forecasting business. But based on the 2007/2008 numbers, Santa Monica continues to be an area where property values go up more in an “up” market and down less in a “down” market.

Back in February, I wrote about Market Conditions: “For Buyers, you can get a good deal compared to a year ago or even six months ago. But I sincerely doubt that we’re going to see prices go 20 percent or more below current levels. If you say that you want to pay what prices are going to be in six months, then you need to wait those six months and see what those prices are…and those prices may not be dramatically different from what they are today.” So far, that prediction has held true

If you have a question about how a particular market niche is doing, then drop me an e-mail at jimbrunet@santamonicahomes.net or give me a call at (310) 508-6878.