Coronavirus Infects LA Housing Market

LOS ANGELES, CA — Home sales and prices dropped last month in Los Angeles County, and authorities think the worldwide onset of the novel coronavirus may have rattled the market.

The county's median home sales price dipped nearly 4 percent from December, the California Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. Statewide, the picture was even worse. Claifornia's median single family home price dropped 6.5%. in a month.

Countywide, the median home price in January was $617,520, down from $641,340 in December. But year-over-year home prices remained solid at about 9% higher than in January 2019. A year ago, the median price of an existing single-family property was $566,010, according to CAR data. Home sales countywide also sank, dropping 22.3%. Still home sales were up 17 percent from the year before, according to CAR.

Statewide, the median price last month was $575,160, compared to $614,880 in December. In January 2019, the median price was $536,830, reflecting a year-over-year rise of 7%.

The median represents the point at which half of homes sell above a price, and the other half below it.

CAR Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young said that the real estate market was rattled at the beginning of the year, like other markets, by the worldwide onset of the novel coronavirus originating from China.

"With interest rates on a declining trend again due to concerns about the impact of the coronavirus, motivated buyers will have an opportunity to stretch their purchasing power in the housing market," she said. "The economic outlook, however, is less clear than a month ago, before the outbreak of the disease, and we should expect market uncertainties to continue to linger on for the short term."

The association's Unsold Inventory Index for January indicated that the median time a property was on the market before it sold in California was 31 days. In Los Angeles County, it was 26 days.

The average price per square foot for an existing single-family home in California last month was $275 -- $12 more than in January 2019.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.