Los Angeles housing market forecast and

LOS ANGELES HOUSING MARKET FORECAST AND TRENDS IN 2020

Adrian Bates

According to data from Realtor. com, May Housing data reveals that the United States housing market has more likely to have reached its record lows during mid-April, with some constrained new listings and minimal price growth. Nonetheless, there are some signs of recoveries as the yearly declines in the newly listed inventory slowed, and the listing prices recovered. Despite the many positive trends, there still exist COVID related challenges that are causing many markets to linger behind. This can be seen from the fact that homes were on the market for more than two weeks longer than what was recorded in 2019. Improvements in new listings but low for-sale homes As we entered May, the total number of homes that were available for sale in most markets continued to dwindle. On a national level, the inventory declined 19.9 percent, Y-o-Y, which indicated a faster rate of decline as compared to the 15.3 percent Y-o-Y drop recorded in April. Realtor.com data showed that this decline resulted in a loss of at least 25,000 listings compared to May of 2019. Additionally, when looking at the volume of the newly listed properties in May, there was a decline of 29.4 percent since last year. Even though this years’ records are well below last year’s levels, the rate of decline in the newly listed properties has significantly improved from a decline of 44.1 percent Y-o-Y in April. This means that the sellers are starting to make a come back to the market. Looking at all the major metros, the housing inventory declined by 21.9 percent Y-o-Y in May. This, however, is an acceleration as compared to the 16.0 percent Y-o-Y decline recorded in April. The areas that are hit the hardest by the pandemic are the ones that have recorded the biggest declines in inventory. These are PhiladelphiaCamden-Wilmington (-38.6%); Providence-Warwick (-35.8%); and lastly BaltimoreColumbia-Towson (-34.5%). It is worthwhile noting that this year, none of the 50 major metro areas have seen an increase on the year-over-year basis, and 43 out of 50 have recorded declines in the last month.

What is the Situation in L.A.? It is hard to predict what the economy will look like in the coming months, leave alone the housing market. Already, there

is a threat of a second wave of the COVID-19, the trade war between the U.S. and China are building up on the background, mounting debt problems, increasing bankruptcy among many other make it hard to tell what the future looks like with certainty. All these factors, coupled with the fact that we do not know the exact time to a vaccine, will be found, makes predictions about the economy and the housing market too sketchy. Nevertheless, what most people do not what to talk about is the electioneering period, and what a loss for the sitting president would mean. A loss for the president could lead the country into economic turmoil.

Additionally, right now, most people are waiting for a second wave of bailout from the president, but how much more can money the president print to deal with the COVID-ballooned recession? Without a bailout from the president and with the risk of a second wave of the virus, cities like the L.A. and New York could face bankruptcy.

Currently, California is facing a deficit of $64 Billion, with many more pensions in crisis. The tax base is also disappearing slowly from the fact that the state unemployment rate is skyrocketing at 15.5 percent and 9% less in personal incomes. Furthermore, businesses were moving out of the state, and now, the situation is worse as most cannot stay afloat due to the high rents.

L.A Sales Stats in Q2 2020 April sales statistics show that the home prices dropped 1 percent in the greater Los Angeles region. Additionally, the inventory dropped 20 percent. Notably, the growth in the listing prices has stopped as the homes make a come back on the market, and businesses reopen.

The fact is, the high prices of homes in the

Los Angeles area will keep on escalating because the shortage of housing in the area simply will not allow it to fall. Part of the reason is that the state does not facilitate more housing construction. The result of this is a massive exit of people from the state into neighboring states like Texas. Rents have not declined, and, past the Corona era, homes prices will shoot up pricing so many people out. Remember, most people have lost their jobs to the virus; the economic implications post-Corona will be massively negative.

With the reopening of the economy, more listings will come on board, however, not as many as the listings recorded in February this year. Most sellers are resisting, but foreclosure will be on the rise, which creates more opportunities for eager buyers. There were variations in price across the state’s cities in April, which reflected the migration of the Californians to areas with cheaper and affordable housing units.

With the directives to work at home, most employees feel the need to move to lesser expensive areas, but that has not changed the fact that sales have plummeted in most cities ranging from -10% to -36%. In the Greater Los Angeles region, the home sales dropped in April by 25.6% and 15.5% in the L.A. region. Countywide, sales plummeted 30.6% compared to a year ago. Nonetheless, prices for homes rose 3.9% from last year.

Right now, it is difficult to tell what the future looks like for the county; however, with construction expected to dwindle, it is only fair that you get into a home. If you are looking to buy in L.A., talk to Adrian Bates. She is an industry professional with the A-1 Realty to find out more about Adrian, follow this link https:// thepowerisnow.com/adrian-bates/

Sources;

https://gordcollins.com/real-estate/los-angelesreal-estate-forecast/ https://www.realtor.com/research/may-2020- data/ https://managecasa.com/articles/californiahousing-market-report/

Tips to increase your credit score Quickly and buy your first home

Andre Jackson

Seeking for the best mortgage deals? Well, you must work on your credit score first. The journey to homeownership, especially for the first-time homebuyers is one of the toughest. In today’s mortgage market, lenders are tightening the lending standards, but one thing is constant, your credit score must impress the lender. While the score will vary accordingly depending on the type of the loan and the lender, typically, having a credit score of over 620 will wow most conventional lenders.

Nonetheless, lenders are raising the bar for the required minimum credit score, and most are now looking for a credit score that is at least 700 from the new borrowers. The credit report and the credit score are two very different things and are both important considerations that the lenders look at in deciding whether you will be approved for a mortgage or not. The information that is in the credit report is used to calculate your credit score, with a higher score, you can qualify for better loans (lower mortgage rates). If you are already in the housing market, trying to fetch better deals, you may need to work on your credit score fast in order to meet the minimum threshold to buy a new home. But even before we get there, you need to understand that a good credit score is never built overnight, it will take some time, and you must be very patient and consistent. However, there are somethings that you can do to raise your credit score fast and in record time.

1.

2. WHERE DO YOU STAND?

Know where you are and where you stand. The first essential step in the process of raising your credit score is creating a baseline. In order to improve your credit score, you need to know and understand where are in so far, your credit report and score is concerned. Start by checking your credit reports and getting your credit score.

You can check your reports at least once for free from the three major credit reporting bureaus—TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian every 12 months.

MAKE SURE YOU LOWER CREDIT UTILIZATION RATIO

What is the credit utilization ratio? This is a ratio that shows how much you currently owe divided by your credit limit. Let us assume that you typically charge up a $1,500 credit card balance in each month and your credit card limit across all your cards is $10,000, your credit utilization ratio is 15%. You need to be careful with how you play along with this ratio as it can affect and impact up to 30% of your credit score. This makes it one of the major players in the overall credit score.