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Absorption Rate Analysis

August 2024 was a great month for home buyers according to our absorption rate stats. While it wasn’t one of those months with a near-unanimous pull toward the buyer’s favor, the surges were (mostly) modest. And the drops tended to be much more significant, plunging certain communities into absorption rate depths we haven’t seen in years. Most of the usual suspects are doing w...

Absorption Rate Analysis | The Most Impressive Absorption Rates We’ve Ever Published

This is the single most impressive absorption rate analysis we’ve published since we first started sharing our numbers in August 2022. Perhaps it was the market anticipating the federal interest rate drop. We’re finally below 5%! Or perhaps things really are just starting to swing in the buyer’s favor. Whatever the case, the dropping absorption rates this month were unusual bu...

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Absorption Rate Analysis – October 2024

In the realm of real estate absorption rates, it seems that what goes down must come up. At least in the competitive housing market of the Greater Los Angeles area. As we head deeper into the autumn, the sun that shined so brightly on prospective home buyers is slipping behind the clouds, returning favor to sellers. Well, except for one holdout. In October, we sold 1,077 homes in the neighborho...

Absorption Rate Analysis – November 2024

After October’s near-unanimous surge deeper into the seller’s good graces, it’s no surprise that November offered more divisive absorption rates as neighborhoods evened out. Sure, four neighborhoods started a streak of two consecutive months marching further into seller territory. But we saw seven communities rise higher in the seller’s favor and five drop closer to a bu...

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Absorption Rate Analysis: December 2024

A December surge toward the seller’s favor is a holiday tradition in its own right when it comes to our monthly absorption rate analysis. It’s just how the “off-season” works in real estate. A lower volume of homes hitting the market typically tips the scales in the sellers’ favor. In December 2022, only one of our published neighborhoods (Glendale) dropped closer ...

How To Use Fire-Resistant Building Materials To Give Your Home A Fighting Chance In Wildfire Season

As our neighbors consider rebuilding their homes following the horrifying wildfires that tore through the region just a little over a week into the new year, more and more homeowners are taking careful consideration into what materials and practices build fire-resistant homes. Sadly, a fully fireproof home just isn’t feasible. Otherwise, we may not be going through the ongoing headache of...

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Wildfires Inspire Stricter Housing Price Gouging Laws

The rain has finally arrived in Southern California, but January’s historic wildfires continue to cause turmoil. Yet this time, the problems are legislative. Last week, Los Angeles city officials dismissed a proposed citywide rent freeze. The suggested changes follow allegations of price gouging that also inspired a slew of stricter price gouging laws.  The Rejected Rent Freeze Or...

Absorption Rate Analysis – February 2025

It seems that in the Greater Los Angeles area’s absorption rate stats, what goes down must come up. January’s month of down-the-line decreases in absorption rates were countered in February with increases across the board. We had a similar surge in every neighborhood in March 2023. So, while it’s rare, it happens. And it was expected. We ended January’s absorption rate a...

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DAILY ROUND UP

By Lou Hirsh CoStar News March 13, 2025 | 1:00 P.M. What you need to know to start your day Trade groups said recently enacted and pending trade tariffs could significantly raise U.S. construction material and service costs that have already increased this year in several categories. (Bloomberg via Getty Images) Construction material costs climb Construction material pric...

DAILY ROUND UP

  By Lou Hirsh CoStar News March 16, 2025 | 2:13 P.M.   Consumer, small business confidence drop The latest national surveys showed both consumer and small-business confidence flagging in response to stock market volatility and prospects for higher prices generated by international wrangling over U.S.-imposed trade tariffs. The closely watched University of M...