As we look back over the past twelve months, and particularly since the beginning of this year, several observations can be made. The number of homes available for sale continue to be insufficient to meet the continuing strong demand with the number of sales 17% higher than last year at this time. Accompanied by 21% lower inventory of homes available, the Palisades median sale price is 14% higher now than at this time last year.

Is your home worth more now than it was 3-5 years ago? The correct answer is absolutely!

How can knowing who the buyers are in today’s market be helpful to sellers?

As has become very evident, the number of local homes for sale is not nearly enough to meet the current demand. In fact, the inventory level is below four months at the current rate of sales, which indicates this to be a strong “seller’s market”. In last month’s article we reviewed the several reasons why the surprising shift from “buyer’s market” to “seller’s market” occurred.

As we begin 2013, the number of homes available for sale in Pacific Palisades is as low as it has been since the end of 2004.  There are only 52 homes on the market, which is 28 percent less supply than at the beginning of last year.

The local real estate market has been steadily improving since the beginning of 2012. However, it has also been experiencing increasing difficulties with appraisal and financing of the home purchases. Some of these issues are directly related to stringent lender guidelines, and many escrows are challenged by problems because of the appraisal process. The appraisal process is often slower than it used to be, which has delayed escrows beyond the closing date.

I recently received a call from a local homeowner asking for a quick home evaluation. After I explained why I would need to see inside and around the home in order to provide a professional estimate of value, I was pressed to at least provide a range of possible value. The homeowner reacted to the conservative range that I gave her by telling me it was “way off,” because she had already gotten online figures from Zillow and Trulia and felt they were more accurate.

Many people think that all a real estate agent does is to list a home or property, have a sign put up, enter it into the Multiple Listing Service, show it when asked to (or have a lockbox with key access for key with other agents) and then write up a sales contract and process the escrow paperwork. The role of a real estate agent is far more involved and of vastly of greater significance than those are me minimum activities might suggest.

For several months, the Westside real estate market has experienced a steady recovery with both average list and sales prices increasing by more than 4%. The inventory level of homes available has dropped significantly over the past year, resulting in increasing frustration for buyers who are well qualified but unable to find a suitable home. As a result, there has been a steady building up of pent up demand over the last several months.  

I have recently been asked how it was that I was able to identify the month in which the Pacific Palisades real estate market began a gradual upward move having reversed a downward price movement a few months earlier. The inquirer wondered if there might be some source of information that could be helpful in identifying such future price direction changes.