Community Corner
Fewer Short Sales Lead to More Green for Culver City Sellers
The national real estate picture is bleak—but let's see what the affect the short sales and REO's are having on the Culver City market.
The national media is awash these days with all kinds of negative data about the housing market. We are constantly being told about how dire things are and how short sales and foreclosures are flooding the market. Typically a short sale can sell up to 21 percent below market and a bank Real Estate Owned can sell up to 40 percent below market value. So you can see how a city that has a large percentage of homes for sale that are bank-owned or short sales, is going to be affected in a negative way.
Now this may be true for large parts of the country and is indeed true for many parts of the state. Locally, however the numbers tell a very different story.
As most of you will know, Culver City has homes with a Culver City address that are zoned CCR1—this means a home with this zoning is part of Culver City proper and comes under the jurisdiction of the Culver City building department and enjoys the services of Culver City schools, police and fire and more.
Find out what's happening in Culver Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
There are also homes with a Culver City address that are zoned LAR1—this means they are actually part of the City of Los Angeles and will be serviced by LA Unified School Districts and Los Angeles Police and Fire.
As you are about to see, this zoning is a key factor in how the dynamics play out and how it can drastically affect home values.
Find out what's happening in Culver Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
At the time of posting this blog, 101 single family homes have been sold so far this year in Culver City (area 28 on the MLS). Of these, 67 have been sold in CCR1 zoned areas verses 34 in LAR1 zoned areas.
In Culver City proper, only six homes were short sales and one was a bank owned REO; this represents only 10 percent of the total homes sold this year. In the LAR1 zoned areas however, there have been nine REO's and four short sales. Translation: 30 percent of homes sold in LAR1 were "distressed sales."
If you are a buyer or seller in this market, it pays to understand where your local or micro market is, because the national picture can be very misleading. Culver City home owners are enjoying considrably better market conditions than most of the nation.
