L.A. Navigating Through a Landscape of Persistent High Prices, Economic Stagnation
Home Prices Remain High as Economy Stagnates
REAL ESTATE NEWS (Los Angeles) — The real estate market in December 2023 presented a curious scenario: home prices holding steady despite a backdrop of fewer listings, longer sales periods, and declining total sales volume. This phenomenon can largely be attributed to the persistent inflation affecting the broader economy. Let’s explore how inflation played a role in shaping the Downtown L.A. real estate market during this time.
The Influence of Inflation
Economic Backdrop
Inflation, a widespread increase in prices and cost of living, has a multifaceted impact on real estate markets. In Downtown L.A., as in many urban centers, inflation contributed to maintaining property values despite a slowdown in sales activity.
The Cost of Holding Property
For homeowners, persistent inflation often translates to higher costs associated with maintaining a property, including utilities, repairs, and property taxes. This can create a threshold for how low they are willing to go when setting sale prices, thereby contributing to steadier home prices even when market activity suggests a potential for decline.
Investment Perspective
Real estate is traditionally viewed as a hedge against inflation. During periods of high inflation, investors and homeowners alike tend to hold onto real estate assets, anticipating that their value will at least keep pace with the rising cost of living. This mindset can contribute to fewer listings and stable or increasing property prices.
Market Dynamics in December 2023
Fewer Listings, Steady Prices
With fewer homeowners willing to sell, partly due to the inflationary context, the supply in the Downtown L.A. market was limited. This scarcity can help sustain prices as buyers have fewer options to choose from, even in a market where overall activity is lower.
Longer Sales Periods
The increase in average days on market indicates a buyer’s market where buyers are more deliberate in their purchasing decisions, possibly due to inflated living costs and economic uncertainty. However, this doesn’t necessarily lead to reduced prices, as sellers hold firm, influenced by the inflationary pressures on their own financial situations.
Declining Total Sales Volume
The reduction in sales volume reflects a market where transactions are less frequent but doesn’t necessarily impact the prices of transactions that do occur. In an inflationary environment, the value of each sale might hold or even increase, compensating for the lower number of transactions.
Implications for Stakeholders
For Buyers
Buyers in this market may find themselves facing steady or slightly increased prices, despite the slower market. It’s essential to be aware of inflation’s impact on mortgage rates and overall affordability.
For Sellers
Sellers might need to balance the desire for optimal pricing with the realities of a slower market. Understanding how inflation impacts buyers’ purchasing power can help in setting realistic prices.
For Real Estate Professionals
Agents and advisors need to navigate these complexities, offering insights into how inflation impacts both sides of a transaction and advising clients accordingly.
Stagflation Continues
The Downtown L.A. real estate market in December 2023 stood as a testament to the nuanced relationship between real estate and broader economic trends, particularly inflation. While the market experienced fewer sales and longer selling periods, home prices remained resilient, underscoring the role of inflation in maintaining property values. As urban real estate continues to evolve, understanding these economic interplays becomes crucial for anyone engaged in this dynamic market.
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As a fellow lover of the holidays, I’m writing you this personal letter to share some exciting news for the New Year. Most people establish New Year’s resolutions, but fall short of keeping them for whatever reason. So each year, I highlight an excellent book that helped my team improve our follow-through on achieving important goals. I wanted to share with you GETTING MORE. Author Diamond offers a revolutionary approach to negotiation, emphasizing emotional intelligence and understanding others’ perspectives over traditional logic and power tactics, to achieve more successful and mutually beneficial outcomes in both professional and personal settings.
Some of your friends, neighbors, associates, or relatives may have a New Year’s resolution to make a move. Well – we can help them with that, help you and help the kids at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles at the same time.
Your referrals help the kids!
Go Serve Big!!! Investing In Our Southern Californian Kids
If you or a friend are thinking about selling, make sure to choose a real estate company you can trust! A real estate company with experience, proven results and a give-back philosophy!
For the month of January, anyone you know wanting to sell their house — I will guarantee the sale of their home for 100% of Market Value, or I’ll Pay the Difference.*
They outline the goals, I agree to deliver. If I don’t, I pay the penalty. Who do you know considering selling their home that would benefit from that kind of peace of mind? Just let me know, and we’ll give them a call!
AND REMEMBER… Your referrals help the Kids…
We are on a mission to raise $25,000 for CHLA. We do this by donating a portion of our income from homes we sell. As you know, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles does great work in helping kids fight through and survive serious life-threatening diseases like cancer, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia and others. They also lead the way in helping kids come back from spinal cord injuries as well as early diagnosis of autism. Last year alone, Children’s helped over 1,000,000 kids right here in Los Angeles. BUT, Children’s relies on sponsorships and donations to provide their elite level of care, and to keep families’ expenses to a minimum. So YOUR REFERRALS REALLY DO HELP THE KIDS…
Who do you know considering buying or selling a home you could refer to my real estate sales team?
Not only will they benefit from our award-winning service, but you can rest assured we are also donating to a very worthy cause.
Go Serve Big!!! Investing in the Children of Los Angeles.
A Real Estate Company that Gives Back!
Children’s Hospital LA leads the way in serving kids one patient at a time.
We are still boldly on a mission to raise $25,000 for Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, and we are making progress! We donate to them a portion of our income from homes we sell. As you know, CHLA does AMAZING work in helping kids fight through and survive debilitating diseases like cancer, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia, and others. They also lead the way in many other fields.
They can provide this care and keep patient costs to a minimum due to donations and sponsorships. We are proud to support the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles!
As in the attached story, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles provides the best pediatric medical care available anywhere in the country. To do that, CHLA needs donations to continue its leading-edge care. We proudly donate a portion of our income from real estate sales to CHLA to help them continue serving the needs of those who most need it in Los Angeles!
Who do you know considering buying or selling a home you could refer to our real estate sales team? Not only will they benefit from our award-winning real estate service, but a very worthy cause will also benefit as well. To refer anyone considering buying or selling a home, just give me a call or pass on my number. 213-880-9910.
Thank you in advance for your referrals!
You and your referrals mean more than ever to my team and me. As we move forward thru this winter, please know we are extremely thankful for you and you being a special part of our business.
Go Serve Big!!! — Corey Chambers
Your Home Sold Guaranteed!
P.S. I copied and pasted the story below from the CHLA website. It better tells the story of the work they are doing.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
As a leading charitable hospital, CHLA depends on sponsorships and donations to continue its leading-edge service. We proudly donate a portion of our income from real estate sales to CHLA to help them continue serving the needs of those who most need it in Los Angeles!
A real estate company with experience, proven results and a give-back philosophy!
Over the years of helping many families sell their homes and/or buy another, we have met some wonderful, loving, caring people. People like you! So your referrals can rest assured that, not only will they get the award-winning service we are known for and the guarantee to back it up, but that a solid portion of the income we receive will go toward helping the kids.
Refer your friends, neighbors, associates or family members considering making a move:
You can go to www.ReferralsHelpKids.com and enter their contact info online or forward the link to someone you know considering a move.
Of course, you can always call me direct as well at 213-880-9910
Why I support Childrenʼs Hospital, Los Angeles
I grew up right here in the Greater Los Angeles Area, born in Los Angeles County at St. Francis Hospital. I remember when I first heard about a young person close to our family suffering from a painful disease and getting treated for that at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. It was then that I began to pay closer attention to the work they do at that hospital. Since then, I have learned that it is a collection of hard-working healthcare professionals, most making their home right here in the Los Angeles area, all coming together for a common cause. That cause is to help young people overcome unfortunate health issues that life sometimes throws our way. Being a Los Angeles Area California native, I take pride in supporting in a way that I can do the good work these people do at Children’s. My team rallies around our annual goal of raising money and donating portions of our income to help Children’s in their quest to heal young people when they need healing. My team and I are committed to providing outstanding results for buyers and sellers referred to us by our past clients. I have discovered that Children’s Hospital Los Angeles shares a similar commitment to their patients. And since their services survive on sponsorships and donations, we are happy to contribute and proud to support them.
Sincerely,
Corey Chambers, Broker
*seller and Corey must agree on price and time of possession. DRE#01889449
Afflicted with severe myocarditis as an infant, Sawyer beat the odds and got a second chance at life with a new heart.
Sawyer the Warrior
by Monica Rizzo
The squeals from the back seat of the family’s SUV are a delight to Robby and Caylin’s ears. Their two sons—Hunter, 5, and Sawyer, 15 months—can’t seem to get enough of each other.
“They are thick as thieves,” Robby says, laughing. “Hunter just looks at Sawyer and he cracks up! He is literally the happiest baby.”
The playfulness between their two sons is something the couple couldn’t imagine a year ago. During Caylin’s pregnancy, Hunter would ask if he could talk to his baby-brother-to-be through her belly. He could not wait to meet him in person. The couple received news during one of Caylin’s prenatal exams that Sawyer only had one kidney and that he would likely be a premature birth. At 34 weeks, Caylin delivered Sawyer and explained to Hunter that his new brother had to stay in the hospital for a few weeks before he could come home.
But that plan changed when days after his birth, Sawyer exhibited cold symptoms that rapidly escalated with high fevers. On his sixth day of life, Sawyer went into cardiac arrest.
“He was taken to the local children’s hospital and his heart rate was in the mid- 300s,” Caylin says. “They told us if his heart rate didn’t come down, he wouldn’t survive for more than three days. His coloring was gray, he was swollen and he was in a medically-induced coma. Everybody believed he was not going to make it. A chaplain counseled us on end of life.”
A cardiac MRI revealed that Robby and Caylin’s newborn son had myocarditis, which is rare in infants and something physicians at their hometown hospital had not experienced. Sawyer’s doctors reached out to the Heart Institute at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to see if they could help.
“I’ve seen three newborns with this in the last 15 years of my career,” says Paul F. Kantor, MBBCh, MSc, FRCPC, Chief, Division of Cardiology and Co-Director of the Heart Institute at CHLA. “Thankfully Sawyer’s condition was recognized early and he was transferred to us.”
Sawyer was on a ventilator and received inotropic support (heart medications that help the heart function and survive).
“When he was admitted, the damage to Sawyer’s tiny heart was severe,” says Jondavid Menteer, MD, Medical Director of the Heart Transplant Program, at CHLA. “We knew he would need a heart transplant, but there just aren’t that many donors. When you put someone that young on the transplant list, it can be a really long wait.
Seven months, to be exact. The waiting, says Robby, was exasperating because they did not know if Sawyer’s heart would hold out until a donor was found, and exhausting because of the travel back and forth from their Orange County home to CHLA. Caylin and Robby established a schedule so that they could split their time with each of their sons.
“I was 50 percent of a person 100 percent of the time,” Caylin says. “I couldn’t be with both kids, so I chose to spend more time each week with Hunter because he was the one that was missing out and he was the one that would remember it. But then there were days when I was home with Hunter, I was so scared Sawyer’s days were numbered and I just missed one.”
Sawyer earned the nickname ‘Sawyer the Warrior’ because he somehow managed to preserve enough heart muscle to survive long enough to get a transplant. On Hunter’s fifth birthday, a donor match was found for Sawyer. The family gathered quickly at their home and for an impromptu party with cake and presents before Robby and Caylin rushed back to CHLA to be with Sawyer.
On March 3, the day of Sawyer’s heart transplant operation, “we had such a mix of emotions,” Caylin explains. “I had trouble wrapping my head around the fact that a family was saying goodbye to their child before they gave us their child’s heart. That family endured a tragedy, so we honor them and their little angel every day because of this gift of life they gave Sawyer.”
Just five weeks post-transplant, Sawyer went home and slept in his own crib for the first time. In the months since, Sawyer has adjusted beautifully to family life— and his prognosis is good.
“I expect him to learn to walk, play on the playground, and even do sports,” Dr. Menteer says. “I am very optimistic he will live a fruitful life.”
“Sawyer is the happiest little human in the world. He is a great sleeper, he loves watching ‘Moana,’ having us read books to him and going to the zoo,” Caylin says of her miracle baby. “And he loves his big brother!”
The feeling is mutual.
“Hunter is very protective of Sawyer and he has become my little helper,” Caylin says, explaining that Sawyer still receives nutrition via a feeding tube and has monthly cardiology checkups at CHLA. “Hunter helps prepare Sawyer’s formula in the morning and he brings diapers to me when Sawyer needs to be changed. Their relationship is incredible.”
“Last year, every single holiday was spent in the hospital,” says Caylin, noting that this year the family will all be together for the first time. “CHLA gave Sawyer a chance and saved his life. We are eternally grateful.”
The wonderful outcome fills Dr. Kantor’s heart with emotion.
“Seeing Sawyer now with his family, interacting with his big brother and so, so happy—it makes my life feel worthwhile,” Dr. Kantor says, noting that no one person at CHLA can take credit for Sawyer’s outcome. “It was a team effort that allowed this child a chance at life when by all accounts it looked like he had no chance. To deliver something like this for a family? Man, how worthwhile is that? There’s nothing better.”
How you can help more kids like Sawyer:
Refer your friends, neighbors, associates, or family members who are considering making a move:
