LOS ANGELES — "Buy land," said Will Rogers. "They ain't making any more of the stuff!” Indeed, no matter how many people flock to La La Land, bolstered by those champagne wishes and caviar dreams, Los Angeles County "ain't making any more of that stuff" called land.
The value of the land in America's most populated county, then, continues to rise with the rising population (over 10 million residents). Judging by what's being called LA County's "housing feeding frenzy," no wonder it's resulted in tying a record high price in the fastest-selling April, since 2006.
"The housing market is red hot," said Andrew Khouri of the LA Times. "How long can it last?
Given that the above question was posed a few days before Christmas, here we are a half-year later yet last week's LA Times' headline still says: Home prices hit an all-time high.
2021 — the year of the hot real estate market, so far
Flemming, who writes the Real Estate newsletter for the Times, asked for a pardon in advance, given how much he's been repeating the same news in 2021. "I am once again required to inform you that the market is hot — really hot!" Flemming can't help but say it again. And again. ...
As for "hot" and LA's housing market, if at all you're among the Angelenos who's been itching to invest in real estate, perhaps now's the time to strike . . . while the iron is scorching hot! "L.A. still has (relatively) affordable homes," Flemming says. "You just have to know where to look."
"Still has" is the operative word. After all, according to the report, April marked the ninth straight month of double-digit price increases.
Millennials fueling the hot demand
The reason for LA County's sizzling housing market ranges from low mortgage rates to increasing demand for space, in particular for Millennials who're finally coming of age.
Let me again emphasize the above insight:
Low mortgage rates + Millennials entering their homebuying years = fueling demand for housing.
In short, with home sales in April quantum leaping to almost 90% year over year, as compared with April 2020, this housing boom somewhat reflects Millennials are finally coming of age.
Viewing real estate as a game may help newbies
Perhaps Monopoly, history's most popular real estate board game, serves as the perfect metaphor.
Each player in the game moves around the board, buying and trading properties. Of course, because every game has an objective, the sole aim is to develop houses and collect rent from opponents.
Unlike Monopoly, players in the game of real-life don't care about driving opponents into bankruptcy per se. Rather, players in real-life merely strive to make as much money as possible.
Just as buying properties when low and driving up the value is the name of the Monopoly game, real estate in real life is no different. Of course, this game board is made of Los Angeles, not of cardboard.
In short, if you're hoping to be a "player" in the real estate game, LA County's game board is primarily made of properties such as those listed under Cheap or Affordable Housing for Sale, not of Park Place and Boardwalk. Yet the principles underlying each real estate game are inherently the same, though the name of the games differs.