The CA Association of Realtors has released the March 2025 Housing Market Statistics. Most of these sales went into contract in February with a 30 day escrow to result in a March closing. These statistics represent coming out of the holidays and moving into the spring selling season.
In the Los Angeles County real estate housing market statistics the median price dropped 2.7% in March over February. Same month last year prices fell approx 1.5% in March over February in Los Angeles County so this year is a higher drop. Median price decrease this year in Ventura County 3.0% whereas last year same time the median price rose 3.1%. Median price is still up 3% in Los Angeles County from same time last year while Ventura County is up 2.4% according to the California Association of Realtors.
I also like to follow where the median price stands compared to it’s highest level. Los Angeles’ all time high median price is still $960,370 from September 2024. The current median price is almost 14% lower than the high. Ventura’s all time high median price is $970,000 from July 2024. The current median price is 3% lower than the high.
2025 sales activity was starting to gain momentum but the tariff war is distracting some people. I am surprised how many people check the value of their investments and home valuation daily or weekly even when they have no plans to sell either their home or their investments but they let short term changes impact their confidence. Once the tariff war is resolved I expection we will regain momentum and will not only meet but execeed the peak median price, hopefully later this year. I have to repeat myself – real estate markets are very local so pay greater attention to the local real estate news.
The total sales volume month to month increased almost 20% in Los Angeles County month over month in March and increased 35% in Ventura County over the previous month. However year over year sales volume was down 3.7% in Los Angeles County and up 23.8% in Ventura County. Remember Los Angeles County was still impacted by the Eaton and Palisades fires in February when most of these properties went under contract.
Here are the interest rate levels for the past year.
In January mortgage rates increased to over 7%. Since then they have dropped to just under 7%.
In the San Fernando Valley it is still a slight Seller’s market as inventory decreased in March to 3.9 months from 4.6 months of inventory in January and 4.3 months in February.
Current Event – Student Loans
Another relevant current event on the horizon is student loans. Borrowers who are in default will see their credit score impacted and reduce their ability to get a home loan. According to the AP “Roughly 5.3 million borrowers are in default on their federal student loans and soon could be subject to having their wages garnished. Referrals for collection had been put on hold since March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the U.S. government also paused federal student loan payments and interest accrual as a temporary relief measure. That grace period was extended multiple times by the Biden administration and ended in October. The department says it will soon begin sending notices on collection efforts, but there are options for borrowers to get out of default.”
Also from the AP “Beginning May 5, the department will begin involuntary collection through the Treasury Department’s offset program. Borrowers who have student loans in default will receive communication from Federal Student Aid in the upcoming weeks with information about their options, according to the Education Department. Involuntary collection means the government can garnish wages, intercept tax refunds and seize portions of Social Security checks and other benefit payments to go toward paying back the loan.“
The AP Author is correct that borrowers should not stick their head in the sand but deal with this proactively because a damaged credit score is hard to repair.
If you want to know more about what is happening with collection of student loans read the full article in https://www.dailynews.com/2025/04/22/student-loans-default-explained/
If you would like to discuss these housing market statistics, the real estate market in general or anything in particular, I hope you’ll reach out to me.
Who to Call
General real estate agents are great for working on every day transactions but if you are a Senior who is downsizing, a family settling an Estate in Probate or Trust administration or a family in a Divorce you need a real estate professional trained for these cases.
For a free consultation on your home’s value, how to prepare your home to sell or the real estate market in general call me at (818)570-1144 or email [email protected] or visit https://janeybishop.com
SRES, CPE, CPRES, RCSD
Senior Real Estate Specialist
Certified Probate Expert
Certified Probate Real Estate Expert
Real Estate Collaborative Specialist – Divorce
