How Healthy Is the Culver City Real Estate Market?

Summer is here, the kids are out of school, and almost half of the year is gone, so this is traditionally one of the busiest times of the year for anyone in the business of helping people find their dream home, move to a better school district, retire to a better climate, or just get closer to family members. The latter is the one that I encounter the most.

How is the Culver City real estate market doing? Well, I wish it were a simple answer, and yet, it is just not enough to use an adjective like "fantastic" or "horrible." There are so many dynamics in play that the real answer to the question has to be a considered response. 

Let's look at some numbers and see what they tell us.

So far this year we have sold (closed escrows on) 60 homes in Culver City, so we know the monthly run rate is 10 homes a month as an average. How does that compare, for example, to the same period in 2006? Ninety-four homes were sold during the first six months of 2006, about 30 percent more than this year.

In 2006 those 94 homes were sold at an average of 42 days on the market; today the average is 58 days on the market. The average price that those homes sold for in 2006 was $778,000. The average sold price today is $619,000. This represents a 20 percent drop in price from the height of the most recent uptrend.

Another key metric that has an effect on the results is how many properties are for sale. If you have a very high number of homes for sale and few buyers, this will result in lower prices; if the opposite is true, a low number of homes for sale and a high number of ready, willing and able buyers, it will drive prices higher.

Today, we have six months' worth of inventory, 60 homes for sale and 10 homes a month are sold. In other words, if no new homes came on the market, at the current run rate we would sell out of homes in six months.

So what does all this mean? 

The state of the Culver City real estate market is ... not bad! We really should be thankful that our great little city has a lot of factors that make people want to live here: schools, safety and a great downtown district. 

A lot of areas around our neighborhood have seen 30 to 35 percent drops in price and nine to 12 months' worth of inventory. Bottom line: If you are a buyer, you have some of the best interest rates in history at your disposal and at least a 20 percent lower price than five years ago. If you are a seller, you can feel confident that your home will sell in a timely manner as long as you are realistic about the price you ask.

Considering the many headwinds our economy is navigating today, it's not bad, not bad at all, in Culver City.