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State of Torrance Real Estate Market As We Head into 2020

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Welcome to our Torrance real estate update for the coming year.   2020 is looking to be another banner year for home sellers as the combination of seemingly endless demand and historically low interest rates means more people will be looking to purchase a home.

View the current homes for sale in Torrance California.

In general the real estate market seems to be slowing down heading into 2020 but for a very odd reason…..each month there are fewer homes hitting the market.  Fewer listings mean fewer home sales.  January saw a very slight uptick in the number of listings so we’re hopeful that is a trend that continues.  Other than that small bump in January, the number of homes for sale has dropped every month since May of 2019

According to Torrance realtor Keith Kyle, “It’s clear that the market is cooling off as there has been an increase in new listings coupled with fewer sales and homes going into escrow since summer.”  The chart above shows that the number of active listings has held pretty steady between 150 and 170 since summer, but the number of sold homes as well as new escrows has continued to decrease.  If this trend continues the market will shift more in favor of buyers and less in favor of sellers.  It’s clearly been a sellers market over the past few years.

The chart below shows the upward trend over the past few months with avarage “months of inventory” of unsold homes on the rise.

What Exactly Is Debt To Income Ratio

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One of the key items that a lender takes into consideration when you’re getting pre approved for a loan and during the underwriting process is your debt to income ratio. This tells the lender how much money you owe each month compared with your monthly income to come up with a ratio to determine how much of a risk you are to them.  This ratio comes from adding up all of your debts including mortgages, auto laons, student loans, credit card balances and any other debt you pay off each month to your pre-tax income each month. Lenders have different thresholds that they’ll allow so it’s always good to talk with several lenders.  If you’re not comfortable getting the process started we would be happy to give you several lenders that we’ve worked with and that have earned our trust.

How Buyers and Sellers Handle Home Inspection Challenges

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One of the more treacherous parts of an escrow is the home inspection and request for repairs.  Often times the buyer thinks that the home inspection is a “checklist” of what needs to be fixed while the seller either thinks their home is perfect or “it was just fine for us so why does the buyer need things that work fine upgraded or repaired”.  Finding middle ground isn’t always easy.

As the graphic below shows, 80% of home inspection reports show at least something needing to be fixed.  We always recommend to both our buyers and sellers to be reasonable.  On the buyer side stick to actual problems or repairs.  If it’s an issue that the buyer will have to immediately pay for to have repaired…it’s a reasonable request.  The biggest challenge items are either those called out as not up to current code, or items towards the end of their service life.  Buyers need to understand that the statement “not up to current building code” does not mean it’s necessarily problematic.  Codes change all of the time and unless it’s a clear safety issue, it’s usually best to stick with actual repairs.  Items at the end of their service life really depend on the item, the cost and how extensive the rest of the repair list.  We’ve found that asking for everything usually ends with the seller dismissing any repairs….even the reasonable ones.

Keith Kyle is a top producing realtor and Torrance real estate specialist with Vista Sotheby’s International Realty in the South Bay.  Contact Keith for more information on how the home inspection and escrow process works in Torrance real estate.

Info On Down Payments for Torrance Home Buyers

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One of the big misconceptions with home buyers, especially first time home buyers, is that you need at least 20% down.  That’s often not the case with lenders offering FHA loans with as little as 3.5% down and traditional lenders funding loans with as little at 5%.  The lower amount is much easier if it’s a single family home but there are options:

See the Homes That We Have Sold in Southern California

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By Keith Kyle

We are so fortunate to have worked with so many wonderful people and in such a great area.  It just doesn’t get much better.  See the map below to view all of our local home sales. Although we’ve sold more homes in Torrance and Redondo, we have been lucky enough to sell throughout the area, from Santa Monica to Huntington Beach. Many of these were first time buyers and are now happy homeowners. The red marks are home sales in which I represented the buyer, the orange marks represent homes that I listed, and the blue marks represent homes in which I represented both buyers and sellers.  Click on the marks to see pictures of the various homes and properties.

You can also see the interactive map of our South Bay home sales on Google.

Flipped Homes Becoming Commonplace in North Torrance

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By Keith Kyle

You don’t have to look far to see that investor owned “flipped” houses are a significant portion of the active home listings in North Torrance. Investors have long sought out homes in this area as many homes, most built post WWII in the late 1940’s and 1950’s, have not been updated in any significant way but are usually well built and structurally in good shape. Those factors, along with great schools and highly sought after neighborhoods, have made North Torrance a fairly ideal market with low inventory and prices on the rise since early 2013. Gone are the days of distressed sales and short sales, so the margins have grown much tighter but given the demand, expect to see an abundance of remodel and flipped property in 2015.  Below are just a few of the recent flips but there are certainly others and will be more coming to the market.   Contact us about any of these homes, to find out about upcoming remodels or to look for potential investment/”as is” opportunities.

For Sale at $594 - 400sq feet added
For Sale at $594,ooo – 400 sq feet added
Sold in 2012 for $270
Sold in 2012 for $270,000

3318 Artesia Blvd.

For Sale at $624,000 550 sq ft added
For Sale at $624,000 550 sq ft added
Sold in 2014 for $472,000
Sold in 2014 for $472,000

4171 W 172nd Street

For sale at $699,000 1000 sq ft added
For sale at $699,000 1000 sq ft added
Sold in 2012 for $250,000
Sold in 2012 for $250,000

4348 W 179th Street

Sold 12/14 for $596K
Sold 12/14 for $596K
Sold July 2014 for $456,000
Sold July 2014 for $456,000

4312 W 178th Street

Current homes for sale in North Torrance

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(all data current as of 9/25/2020)

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

 
 

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