A lack of new listings is putting a damper on single-family home sales in Southern California and pushing buyers toward condos.
New signed contracts for single-family homes in Los Angeles dropped 14.2% year over year in August, while new listings had plummeted 57.6% compared to the same time in 2020, according to a report Thursday from Douglas Elliman.
By comparison, condo new listings saw an annual decline of 40.4% in August, but new signed contracts surged 43.4%, the report found.
“Despite more declines in new listings, the condo’s newly signed contract volume showed large yearly gains for the 12th consecutive month,” said Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of the appraisal company Miller Samuel and the author of the report.
New signed contracts for high-end condos—those asking more than $2 million—saw the biggest percentage gain in August, the data showed. There were 28 deals for luxury condos, compared to 12 in August 2020, a 133% increase. Transactions for those priced between $1 million and $1.99 million jumped 64.4%, from 101 to 166.
A lack of new listings is also curbing the market in Orange County, according to the report.
“Both single family and condo new signed contract activity fell year over year…for the third straight month, unable to keep up with the large decline in new listings,” Mr. Miller said. “Combined, new listings for both property types have fallen year over year every month since at least April 2020.”
Indeed, deals for single-family homes fell nearly 30% last month, compared to the same time the previous year, while new signed contracts for condos dropped 19.6%, the report found. New listings were down 34.3% and 38.2%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the situation in Aspen, Colorado, is similar, according to a separate report from Douglas Elliman, also released Thursday.
“New signed contract volume for both property types combined declined year over year for the third straight month, largely matched by decreases in new listings as the market continues to return to normal seasonal patterns,” Mr. Miller said in that report. “The exaggerated declines reflect the year-ago post-lockdown sales surge. New signed contract levels were slightly below the same period two years ago.”
Deals for single-family homes were down by two-thirds from 30 in August 2020 to 10 last month, while new listings saw a nearly 77% decline, from 39 to 9, in the same time period, the data showed.
Deals for condos fell 37.5% year over year in August, and new listings were down 54.5%, according to the report.