September 2022 Real Estate Market Update: No Drama!!!

Many people are waiting for the real estate market to crash. Some news channels scare homeowners by reporting declining prices and increased inventories. Looking at September statistics in Beverly Hills, BHPO, and Hollywood Hills East, I don’t see any signs of the real estate market decline.

The supply is still low and the demand is still high, that’s why prices keep going up.

The inventories are still tight across the board, the houses are still selling faster than pre-pandemic, and the prices are still on the upward trend. I watch closely Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills Post Office, and Hollywood Hills East. If you would like me to watch your area, please let me know and I will add it to my list.

Beverly Hills

 The inventory in Beverly Hills dropped below the June level. 113 homes are available for sale, in June there were 114 homes on the market. And there were only 20 new homes listed in September.

The most expensive property is offered now for $100,000,000 and it is located at 1210 Benedict Canyon Drive. The least expensive property is a condo offered for $789,000 located at 9950 Durant Drive, #205.

15 properties were sold in September at an average price per square foot of $1,394 which is a bit higher than in August. It took on average 67 days to sell those homes, which is about the new normal established during low-interest times.

Inventory is down, fewer new listings are on the market, homes sell fast, and the prices are up. These trends do not signal a recession in the real estate market.

Beverly Hills Post Office (BHPO)

The inventory in BHPO is a tiny little bit up compared to last month. There are 101 homes for sale. We had only 25 new listings in September, which is 50% down from August.

The least expensive house is located at 9811 Easton Drive. It is offered at $1,650,000. The most expensive home is 71 Beverly Park, offered at $87,500,000.

7 properties were sold in August and it took 34 days on average to sell them. This is about the shortest time on the market in two years, which proves that the demand is still strong. The average price per square foot was $1,114, which is 20% higher than in July and 3% higher than in September last year. Prices are not crashing yet!

Again, consistently low inventory, fewer new listings, short time on the market, higher prices - do all these things associate with a crash?

Hollywood Hills East

The inventory in Hollywood Hills East is getting close to pre-pandemic levels but is not quite there yet, 41 homes are for sale with only 14 new listings.

The most expensive property is 2500 Vasanta Way, which is offered at $5,999,999. The lowest-priced property is a condo, 3480 Brahman Blvd., #210 offered at $466,000.

14 homes were sold in September and it took on average 32 days to sell those homes. The price per square foot was $808, which is a significant increase from the prices in august. Remember, we had a dip in prices for one month ($680 per square foot), but now the prices have recovered.

Although the inventory in Hollywood Hills is getting slightly higher, the prices are going back up, the number of sales is up, the prices are getting higher and the homes are still selling fast. Again, no signs of a disastrous market decline.

Conclusion

Although the real estate market is not going crazily up, it is not crashing either. For a crash to happen, the demand needs to get weaker and the supply has to increase significantly. So far, the demand is still strong and the supply is really low, below the pre-pandemic levels.

And we are not in our Southern California/West Los Angeles cray bubble. Here is the nationwide report from the National Association of Realtors

Dear buyers, waiting for a “crash” will only cost you more because of the still rising prices. You have more choices now and we also can look for homes that fell out of escrow. These homes could be a good opportunity, especially if you can close fast.

If you wait for interest rates to decline, when it happens, you will see a jump in prices. Maybe it is best to buy now, while you have less competition, and refinance later when the interest rates go down.

Sellers, right now is an amazing time to sell your home. The demand for homes is still high and so are the prices. If you are in a situation where you need to sell your home before you buy a new one and if you are not sure how to coordinate both transactions, we can certainly help.

Let me know how I can help you to make your real estate dream your real estate reality.

About Irina

I am a Senior Real Estate Specialist with eXp Realty Luxury Collection. I help people with their life transition. I work directly with seniors and specialists such as mortgage experts, financial planners, and healthcare professionals to evaluate how my services can improve the lives of my clients. I am a CPA with an MBA from Pepperdine University. Besides many years of tax and financial planning experience, I also offer unique marketing expertise learned through my real estate career and education. Less than 1% of Realtors manage to get both Senior Real Estate Specialist and Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist Designations, which I acquired in order to better serve my clients’ needs.