L.A. County: December 2008 Home Values

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You guessed it–home values are still going down. December home sales for L.A. County show a median home value of $320,000, down from the $340,000 of november and 36% lower than November of 2007. Of course, neighboring counties are doing worse, some by a wide margin, but that is hardly cause for joy. There’s no doubt we’re all in this together.

As always, some areas are in worse shape than others. By now, we expect to see huge price drops in North L.A. County and we surely do: Lancaster shows medians of $115,000 and $116,000 [93534,93535], representing drops of 50% and 38% respectively over last year, while 93536 shows a median of $199,000, 35% less than last year. This is grim news as it most certainly means foreclosures and short sales for many. Those that remain must somehow deal with a loss of up to 50% of their home’s value over last year. Sadder still is the story in Palmdale where one ZIP[93591] has lost a spectacular 74% of its median home value in one year to arrive at a crushing $65,000.  Other Palmdale areas show losses of 46% to a median of $116,000 [93550]and 35% to a median of $225,000 [93551].

Other areas hard hit by the home value drop include many areas in Los Angeles City, including Hawthorne, Watts and Compton along with others. In our own area, Pomona continues to lead the way down with a 50% drop in 91768 to a median of $173,000, 41% in 91766 to a median of $223,000 and 38% in 91767 to $216,000. Other large drops occurred in Baldwin Park [42% to $235,000], South El Monte [41% to $270,000], Whittier 90602 [47% to $318,000], but, for the most part, the San Gabriel Valley‘s median home values are higher than the county median and have dropped less.

San Dimas, for instance, shows a 14% drop over last year to $465,000, though that is based on very few sales, itself a poor harbinger for the future. Arcadia dropped about 24% to a median of about $750,000 across its two ZIP codes. Monrovia is down 11% to $478,000, again well about the County median.  Covina has lost around 20% to a median in the high $300,000s.  Walnut has actually gained value to a median of $634,000. Guess you’re doing something right, Walnut. Glendora is down a bit over 20% in both 91740 and 91741 to medians of $343,000 and $419,000 respectively. La Verne is down 6% to $465,000 which represents very good value. Buy in LaVerne. Claremont is down a measly 2% to a median of $525,000.

Many of these medians are based on very few sales, so we can expect them to change, possibly radically, inthe near future. South Pasadena, for instance, now is up 11% to a median of $1,200,000, but that is  based on only 3 sales for the whole month. Condo sales have been abysmal, as expected, and many median values are based on 1 or 2 sales. The median condo price in L. A. County is $290, 000, down 25% over November 207. Sales, though, are way off.

It’s clear that the pace of decline is slowing and the median for L. A. County is dragged down by horrendous numbers in some parts of the City of L. A. as well as Palmdale, Lancaster and the high desert areas  like  Littlerock [down 51% to a median of $140,000]. Established suburbs, such as those in the San Gabriel Valley, with good schools, well-managed city governments and alreay-built and paid-for infrastructure are doing much better than outlying districts. It is also true, though, that if our Current Recession deepens cities will be less able to maintain these infrastructure amenities in the face of shrinking  tax base  from closing auto malls, lost retail outlets and rising unemployment.

Statistics provided by MDA DataQuick and are printed in the L.A. Times.