Los Angeles Beach Cities Resale Activity for November 2007

As you are by now well aware of, home sale volume in Los Angeles County was horribly weak in November. By other measures, it was largely new homes that held up the Los Angeles housing market - resales were much weaker than sales of new construction.

90278 and 90254 currently show the weakest YOY trends on resales. The beach cities charts in general continue to show very wobbly trends. Compare the median price line graphs from the beginning of a price chart to about mid-2005 and then compare the section of line up to mid-2005 with the section of line from mid-2005, and you'll see what I mean. That powerful surge up to mid-2005 is now wobble on most of these charts.

How long high-end home sales will continue to sustain the market is difficult to say. Another possibility is that lower-end buyers may find other sources of financing and drive sales volume back up, though that possibility looks rather remote. (But if low end buyers were to reenter the market, I would expect median prices to actually fall.)

Here are the detailed RESALE statistics for the beach cities and some of the surrounding zip codes:

                         SFR   MEDIAN    %YOY    CONDO  MEDIAN   %YOY  
COMMUNITY         ZIP    SALES   SFR      CHG    SALES  CONDO     CHG
LA/Westchester    90045   18    $725     -3.5%    N/A     N/A      N/A  
El Segundo        90245    1  $1,049     24.1%     3     $600   +12.1%
Hawthorne         90250   19    $488     -9.6%     1     $410    -8.9%  
Hermosa Beach     90254    2  $1,013    -19.6%     4     $760    -7.3%  
Lawndale          90260    6    $455    -12.1%     1     $299   -13.3%  
Manhattan Beach   90266   21  $1,835    +34.9%     2   $2,100   +90.9%  
Palos Verdes Pen. 90274   17  $1,798    +21.9%     2     $478   +46.2%  
Rancho P.V.       90275   22  $1,215    +25.9%     5     $579   +15.8%   
Redondo Beach     90277    7  $1,178    +20.5%    14     $767    +4.0%   
Redondo Beach     90278   18    $730     -3.3%    11     $642    -4.8%