Home Prices Reach for Sky

Is there any doubt now that your home is a sitting, profitable investment?

Last September, at the quarterly UCLA Business Forecast Conference, forecasters said, “By the year 2000, the average price of a new California home will reach a predicted $471,000.”

As expected, Los Angeles figures pace the state in all housing charts. The newly released tabulations of existing home sales in areas served by the Los Angeles Board of Realtors offers supporting correlation, despite a 15% drop in total sales from October activity.

For the following areas served by that board’s 4,000 members, the median sales price of a single-family dwelling in November was $425,000, while the average price reached the $530,982 mark:

Bel Air, Beverlywood, Brentwood, Century City and Westwood, Cheviot Hills and Rancho Park, Eagle Rock and Highland Park, the Hancock Park-Wilshire area, Hollywood and Hollywood Hills, Mar Vista and Palms, Los Feliz, Pacific Palisades, Silver Lake, and other areas of the city--West Los Angeles, mid-Wilshire, Miracle Mile, metropolitan, north and south sectors of the city.

Marina del Rey, Venice, the San Fernando Valley, all with their own realty boards, and the adjacent but incorporated cities of Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Culver City and West Hollywood are not included in the Los Angeles board’s price list. Beverly Hills doesn’t disclose its monthly sales data.

The board’s report is based on 271 sales of homes and condominiums during November, 201 houses and 71 condos. The median price for the latter was $185,000.

Most active spots were in the Pacific Palisades and Los Feliz areas of the city, recording 36 homes sold for an average price of $689,469 and 26 homes at an average price of $450,346, respectively.

While the report showed a 15% decline from October to November in total sales, there was a 5% increase from activity in November, 1987. The $425,000 median price was up only 1% from the $419,900 of October and $110,000 higher than the median of November, 1987--a big 35% jump.

The $530,982 average price increased nearly 38% over the $384,286 reported in November, 1987, and 8% higher than the average price of $489,630 last October.

By the cyclical laws of real estate, there has to be a turning point and the predicted higher interest rates should slow the pace and level off the prices.

Could you afford to buy your own home, at today’s market prices?