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SANTA MONICA REAL ESTATE SNAPSHOT – JULY 2010

By Jodi Summers

Real Estate Broker/Owner with Sotheby's International Realty

July 01, 2010 09:05 PM

by Jodi Summers

Locally, our real estate news is positive. According to UCLA Anderson senior economist Jerry Nickelsburg, described California as, “…A divided state, as coastal California recovers while inland California, devastated by the collapse of the real estate market, continues to languish.”

We are lucky to be on the coast, as our market in Santa Monica is beginning to rise again. Comparing Santa Monica single family residence sales from Jun-08 vs. Jun-10 the number of sold properties by month is up 23%.

And what’s even more interesting, is that the price seems to be rising more quickly than sellers are realizing. Contrasting Median For Sale vs. Median Sold from Jun-08 vs. Jun-10, you’ll note that the median price of for sale properties is up 1% BUT the median price of sold properties is up 5%.

Our single family residence statistics confirm the midyear UCLA Anderson Forecast which notes that the Los Angeles regional economy will likely recover faster than the rest of the state, even though the economic recovery in California is going to climb slower than the rest of the country this year. Like the slow rise is sale prices, we are seeing a slow decline in unemployment. In California, state unemployment dropped from 12.5% in April to 12.4% in May.

Forecast director Edward Leamer, in a report titled “A Homeless Recovery,” offers these optimistic signs to show our economy is coming back, “If the next year is going to bring exceptional growth, consumers will need to express their optimism in the way that really counts - buying homes and cars…”

Measuring Jun-08 vs. Jun-10, the number of homes in Santa Monica under contract properties by month is up 22%.