Housing market report for January 2022: Southern California

January 2022 highlights

January continued a slow rise in competition in the housing market in Southern California that has been gradually returning the LA and San Diego areas to pre-autumn numbers. Following a low point in October of last year, January prices in LA were above where they were at any point in 2021.

Home prices spiked after the new year to reach a high point for the last 12 months The average home in LA sold for over $1,700,000, a 2% increase from the previous month, but a 25% increase from this time last year.
Sellers were pricing their homes to encourage competition and higher offers Though the sale prices increased in January, sellers listed their homes well below the average sale price—and even listed for less, on average, than what they did in December. The result was a high sale-to-list-price ratio and a high number of offers for each home.
Inventory was up across most LA area markets As competition begins to increase, sellers are encouraged and are coming back into the market. In LA, San Diego, Orange County, and the San Gabriel area, the number of listed properties increased. This didn’t ease pressure on buyers, however, as the number of homes sold increased at a similar rate, keeping inventory flat.
Selling prices were all over list prices across all Southern California markets Median sale prices were higher than median list prices in San Diego, LA, San Gabriel, and Orange County. Despite the increased prices, days on market were either flat or lower than the previous months in the same markets.