December 10, California: At a time when the country and the whole world grapples with hard-hitting realities like job losses and pay cuts across all sectors, surprisingly, California’s real estate market seems to be riding high on the price front.
Interestingly, price across the country’s real estate sector has soared by almost 25 per cent. And among all of them, California has registered the highest growth. Across the state prices of homes, as in residential real estate have risen by 20 per cent while in certain pockets such as Central Coast, a tight housing market have registered a record growth of an average of 25 per cent in property prices – substantially higher, especially in a post-pandemic world.
California’s real estate market Uprising in Certain Districts
High net worth residents from cities like Los Angeles, San Jose, and San Francisco have been flooding property markets from Redding to Central Valley, opting for the several suburbs in-between.
Several reasons have been attributed to this kind of a moving and buying pattern within the California real estate market. An increase in work-from-opportunity has propelled buyers to look for bigger accommodations, say realtors. This is because, since professionals have been spending almost 24 hours behind closed doors since lockdown, there has been an urge to move into bigger living spaces, to make living, working and daily life more worthwhile and accommodating.
Realtors also point out that a larger percentage of buyers than usual are choosing for bigger plots or properties with outdoor access as well while are zeroing in on residential properties that can double up as vacation homes since travelling took a horrible hit this year. Experts from the sector and realtors further state that clients are even prepared for bargaining at substantially higher prices, often settling for an all-cash deal—something that has not been around long. And this particular pattern has been made possible by selling off homes in high-priced regions on their way to moving out.
A Toll on Tenants and Homebuyers?
While the movement is leading to an influx of rich landowners, it is taking a toll on local renters as well as potential homebuyers, who are often being forced to keep at bay from the real estate market.
However, buying and selling homes or residential properties were not easy especially during the shelter-at-home rule. This is because, every time a potential buyer visited along with an agent, sanitization processes had to be carried out in full, which often lead to exhaustion of the sellers.
The Diminishing Impact of the Pandemic
Nonetheless, it has to be accepted and acknowledged that the pandemic has spurred America’s real estate market to a considerable extent with regular ongoing transactions. Across the United States, sales of homes have increased substantially while prices of newly-constructed properties including condos have received a shot-in-the-arm even while the government had announced a nationwide shutdown. According to sources, in certain property markets, new listings get booked even within hours if they are priced right.
The California Association of Realtors recently compiled data about the current activities within the property market, which revealed that the home prices across the state went up by more than 17 per cent in October 2020 than last year and the average sales price stood at $700,000.
From the above-mentioned facts, it can be concluded that while the pandemic has wreaked havoc all over, a slight ray of silver lining is still visible within California’s real estate market, which is indeed worth appreciating.
