The saying about March coming in like a Lion and leaving like a Lamb has real potential to take shape this month, and I’m not only speaking about the weather. As the month opened, southern California real estate agents and their clients were challenged with continued market turmoil whether buying or selling property.

It has now become recognized truth that LA County home prices have fallen 3-14% from the peak values seen last year. Across this city neighborhood statistics may vary but they all face new realities as it becomes clear that last year’s market behavior is history.

As an example, let me share differences comparing March 2022 stats with numbers entering February 2023 for the Beverly Hills luxury home category: the Days on Market were 14 in ’22 versus 57 today; the Months’ Supply of Inventory was 6 in ’22 versus 11 today;  the number of Closed Sales were 20 in ’22 versus 8 today; and most tellingly the average percentage of List Price to Sales Price was an unbelievable 107% in ’22 versus 89% today. That last statistic proves the increased negotiability of the Seller’s asking price. This is especially true when the List Price is not tuned to new market conditions which continue to shift on a seeming monthly basis.

Moving to some very good news for Californians, the Drought threat has lessened significantly. Entering December, the weather forecast predicted continued dry La Niña conditions. Then a series of atmospheric rivers deluged the state over a period of weeks bringing record snowfall to local mountains and the Sierras causing consistent rain in LA like we have not seen in 18 years. Amazingly, The Federal Drought Monitor announced that state reservoirs are now 96% of average levels – pushing back the drought threat much farther than expected. 

Among all this March lion behavior, our Team has proudly launched some of the most exciting and unique estate properties that offer one-of-a-kind amenities and a few of them have made national attention. We are poised for a busy Spring and because of our experience are not daunted by market challenges, we believe in the overall health of California residential real estate, wherever you enter or exit. As the pioneers proclaimed upon arriving here, “There’s gold in them hills!"

-Ernie