40% year-over-year price declines in some L.A. ZIPs

Bookmark this link: It lets you look up median sales prices and year-over-year percentage change by ZIP Code in Southern California.

I ran some numbers on ZIP Codes with the biggest year-over-year declines in median price paid. Here's a partial list of the 40%-and-more club:

ZIP Code  Location          May '07     May '08       % change
90059      Los Angeles      $410,000   $197,500       -51.8%
90002      Los Angeles      $400,363   $207,500       -48.2%
93550      Palmdale          $315,000   $170,000       -46.0%
90222      Compton          $360,000   $200,000       -44.4%
90534      Lancaster         $275,000   $154,750       -43.7%
90041      Los Angeles      $670,000   $377,000       -43.7%
91040      Sunland            $680,000   $386,000       -43.2%
91042      Tujunga           $619,000   $355,000       -42.6%

Source: DataQuick Information Systems

Caveat: A lack of market activity, or a change in the composition of homes sold, in a single month sometimes leads to wide fluctuations in median sales prices.

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.

Comments

[Jack]

Here's where boots on the ground can give you more info than just looking at stats, and here's where median stats sometimes can be misleading. The median price in Sunland was skewed way up in May '07 because of one small tract of homes priced far above the typical Sunland listing (notice only 14 properties closed in that month).

About 98 percent of homes in Sunland run around 1.5K to 2K square feet. They were closing in May '07 for an average of about $520K per MLS records. So the actual drop for a "typical" Sunland home was about 26 percent, not 43 percent. Still painful, but not as painful as the somewhat misleading median suggests.

(I'm still glad I sold my Sunland home in 2007, tho!)

[Dan]

Anyone knows how can I find L.A. Times' listing of housing price by zip code? I think it goes by county and periodically appears in Sunday's Real Estate section. Anyone knows the link?

[Domino]

Falling house prices are like a lot of wildfires - they start in the East and spread Westwards. Rising prices travel in the opposite deirection (people priced out of the West move East).
Mediocre areas adjacent to these ZIPs will feel downward pressure which in time will export downward pressure to the truly desirable areas.
The dominos are falling!

[Housing Bull Chorus]

If you fear mongering racist renters would have kept your negative opinions to yourself those numbers would have been UP 50% instead of down.

Are you happy now? Look what you bloggers have done to housing values. The price of gas probably wouldn't be so high if that nasty, evil, mean Pete Viles hadn't blogged about it.

You had better not start talking about my neighborhood because if you bring values down there I'm really going to be pissed.

[Michael Snyder]

Housing Bull Choirs,
I always love anonymous threats placed by miss informed cowards. If this humble bunch of bloggers had the ability to manipulate the housing market my business would be in much better shape. But alas, we to are subject to the machinations of those "well above our pay grade" who actually control the "cash taps" that govern this market.
By the way, where do you live? I'd be really interested in the opinions of the dozens of well informed folks participating here with regard to your little slice of the American dream.

[Patient)vulture]

"I'm tracking prices in the atwater area and found this:

90039: LOS ANGELES
Median sale price
May 2007 May 2008 Change
$619,000 $983,000 58.8%

Number of transactions
May 2007 May 2008 Change
12 15 25.0%

any thoughts on this contradiction to the recent trends?"

--------------
There's something wrong with the LA times formula. Data quick shows -29% decline for 90039 from April 07 to April 08, with 15 transactions.

http://www.dqnews.com/Charts/Monthly-Charts/
LA-Times-Charts/ZIPLAT.aspx

[Housing Bull Chorus]

l.a. guy

What are you smoking?

The "high end" houses aren't selling therefore skewing the sales mix?

Since when did any of these places have "high end houses"?

Yeah...let me get one of them "High End" Compton Crack Houses!

[xtine]

HOUSING BULL - We WANT the prices to go down so we can buy something.

Can you recommend another blog where I can make bearish comments? Because by pissing off you ARM-buying-no-downpayment-making-foreclosing-getting-in-over-your-head-risk-takers I can give my children a backyard.

Unless you're joking. And I can't tell if you are. But IF you are....haha. Good one.

[arroyogrande]

"Anyone knows how can I find L.A. Times' listing of housing price by zip code"

Do you mean this?

http://www.dqnews.com/Charts/Monthly-Charts/LA-Times-Charts/ZIPLAT.aspx

(DQ News LA Times SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HOME RESALE ACTIVITY)

- arroyogrande

[tarbubble]

pssst.... i think housing bull chorus is being sarcastic.

[Marina]

Yes, most definitely: Housing Bull Chorus is sarcastic.
Gave me a good chuckle when I read it.

[RO]

So South Pas saw a 17% decline and La Canada 35%. San Marino saw a 40% increase. Something is wrong with the numbers. I haven't seen swings this extreme in any of these neighborhoods.

[Dan]

Thanks, ArroyoGrande for your help!

[xtine]

Of course - housing bull was being sarcastic.
I must have been in a super-literal mood yesterday.

[Bonaficio de Brentwood]

Personally, I can't imagine seeing Eagle Rock (90041) declining in such value before other less sought after areas.

These numbers seem a bit inaccurate.

Is there a better source for real estate numbers?