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Long Beach/Southern California Real Estate

Contents:

Annual Housing Market Report by California Association of Realtors (October 7, 2021)
What Are You Willing to Give Up to Buy Your First Home?
What is SB 9, Signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 17, 2021

Annual Housing Market Report by California Association of Realtors (October 7, 2021)

Oct 11, 2021 11:48 am | Long Beach/Southern California Real Estate

California Association of Realtor Annual Market Report was presented at the annual trade conference last week, held online for the 2nd year--and here are some of the highlights.

Takeaways:

As of August 2021, 67% of all sales closed over list price (up from about 50% at beginning of 2021).

Median price of single family home in August was $827,940.

Median down payment by repeat buyers was 20%, and 32% of first time buyers have 20% down or more.

Number of sales down to 414,860 in August.

People are buying larger homes, median is over 1800 sq ft.

Years in home before selling is now over 10 years, due to affordability challenges, relocation questions, low rate on current mortgage, low property taxes, hit on capital gains--not as many people move compared to 2000.

Million dollar home market is now 28% of sales.

23% of Californians can buy a median priced home -- affordability issue for California.

California is not issuing enough new housing permits.

Homeownership rates vary by ethnicity.

All time low levels of housing inventory in December, 2020.

Technology, iBuyers and corporate consolidations, as well as changes to MLS portals, and other industry legal issues all involve new ways of doing business.

California housing crisis: In 1986 population was 27 million--in 2020 population was 40 million; number of Realtors in 1986 was 112,000 and in 2020 there were 206,000 Realtors; in 1986 there were 394,000 home sales and in 2020 there were 412,000 home sales; in 1986 256,000 housing permits were issued and in 2020 100,000 housing permits were issued. So, almost double the number of Realtors, and 13 million more people, but much slower increase in home sales and big decrease in housing permits.

Overall price outlook for 2022 as of August 2021: in 2021 the median home price increased 6.8% -- the median price for 2022 is projected to be a decrease of 5.2%, putting median home price at $834,000; with the 30-year fixed rate mortgage not over 3.5 for 2022.

For the complete Power Point on this presentation, please contact me.

Julia Huntsman, REALTOR, Broker | www.juliahuntsman.com | 562-896-2609 | California Lic. #01188996

What Are You Willing to Give Up to Buy Your First Home?

Sep 28, 2021 11:59 am | Long Beach/Southern California Real Estate

A survey of just over 1,000 Americans, conducted by Cinch Home Services, a home warranty firm, shows

what some people are willing to do in order to afford a home purchase. Homes are expensive, more than ever especially in California where the median price is now over $800,000, yet owning a home is still viewed as most important, especially in the younger generation. And what are they most willing to give up? Alcohol.

In viewing the survey results, it becomes obvious that saving money could impact various industries: California wine industry, the travel industry, clothing companies, restaurants, candy manufacturers of chocolate--it goes on and on. Not only is this survey about home buying, it could also be seen as an indirect comment of how housing affects the overall economy, as well as being an overall picture of how many young adults spend their income. Is alcohol such a big give up? It can be if going out to dinner with drinks is a consistently main feature of leisure entertainment. And some other choices don't really seem tied with saving money--but saving 30% of your salary might really add up for a prospective buyer if that dollar savings is significant enough for their chosen market price. Maybe not seeing your family as often means you're spending more time working overtime--that too might help economically as long as it doesn't infringe on family ties too much. But getting only 3 hours of sleep every night is not going to lead to a more productive workday for the average human being who needs 7-8 hours of sleep. So some of these choices are not productive, in my view. But some are, and young adults should review their monthly budgets to see where they can save money and cut back on debt (not specifically mentioned here). Cutting back on debt improves credit scores, which greatly assists in getting a mortgage loan, and also produces a greater sense of well being, which is important in working towards the goal of homeownership!!

For more information on home buying or selling, please contact me. I've had 25 years of experience helping buyers and sellers with their residential properties.

Julia Huntsman, REALTOR, Broker | www.juliahuntsman.com | 562-896-2609 | California Lic. #01188996

What is SB 9, Signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 17, 2021

Sep 17, 2021 03:24 pm | Long Beach/Southern California Real Estate

A while back California passed a law allowing accessory dwelling units (ADUs) throughout the state as part of the work to alleviate a housing shortage. There is now Senate Bill 9, the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency (HOME) Act, a law that will allow--disregarding neighborhood zoning--owners of single family homes to split their lots and build a duplex, effective January, 2022.

"The HOME Act facilitates the process for homeowners to build a duplex or split their current residential lot, expanding housing options for people of all incomes that will create more opportunities for homeowners to add units on their existing properties. It includes provisions to prevent the displacement of existing renters and protect historic districts, fire-prone areas and environmental quality."

Many have been concerned about the forced change to single family zoning, and potential negative results to neighborhoods. According to The Terner Center in their July report on SB 9, "This ability to create duplexes and/or split the lot and convey new units with a distinct title would allow property owners to pursue a wider range of financing options than are available for ADU construction to build these new homes." .... "While Senate Bill 9 does not apply to single-family parcels in historic districts, fire hazard zones, and rural areas, local market prices and development costs play a large role in determining where there is financial viability for the addition of new homes. Moreover, physical constraints, such as small lot sizes and other local regulations, can limit the number of new homes built as a result of this bill." Parcels most likely to benefit from this new law are those that are already "financially feasible" under existing law, and that relatively few single family parcels are expected to be financially feasible for added units as a result of this bill. Mortgage products may be accelerated somewhat for parcels that are newly subdivided, for households able to take advantage of new homes of newly divided parcels.

As reported by The Terner Center, restrictions, which may put feasible properties statewide to about 410,000, of which about 110,000 would become newly feasible, include:

1 Cannot be in a historic district or a historically designated property.

2 Lot split cannot be smaller than 40 percent of the original parcel.

3 A locality cannot impose any standards that would preclude the construction of up to two units or physically precluding either of the two units from being at least 800 square feet in floor area.

4 Side and rear setbacks of up to 4 feet is allowed.

5 The lot split cannot require the demolition or alteration of a housing unit currently serving moderate-, low- or very-low income household(s) or a rent-controlled unit.

6 The lot split cannot result in the demolition or alteration of housing that has been occupied by a tenant in the last three years or where an owner has used the Ellis Act to remove a rental unit from the market within the last 15 years.

7 A jurisdiction may impose an owner-occupancy restriction for lot splits, where the applicant must intend to occupy one of the housing units as their principal residence for a minimum of one year from the date of the approval of the urban lot split.

8 No lot splits on adjacent lots.

9 Cannot be created from a previous lot split.

In Long Beach, the impact may be lessened because lot sizes are relatively small, which would preclude much of this from happening. Officials say in order to make financial sense, lot sizes would have to be about 8,000 square feet. Of the 59,803 single family lots in Long Beach, 4,609 are over 8,000 square feet.

For the complete report from The Terner Center, see their July 2021 report here.

State law: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/09/16/governor-newsom-signs-historic-legislation-to-boost-californias-housing-supply-and-fight-the-housing-crisis/

Julia Huntsman, REALTOR, Broker | www.juliahuntsman.com | 562-896-2609 | California Lic. #01188996

Long Beach/Southern California Real Estate

Annual Housing Market Report by California Association of Realtors (October 7, 2021)

Oct 11, 2021 11:48 am | Long Beach/Southern California Real Estate

What Are You Willing to Give Up to Buy Your First Home?

Sep 28, 2021 11:59 am | Long Beach/Southern California Real Estate

What is SB 9, Signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 17, 2021

Sep 17, 2021 03:24 pm | Long Beach/Southern California Real Estate

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