Housing Tracker: Southern California home values rise slightly in October

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Southern California home prices rose in October, stopping a five-month skid that saw the average home value fall more than $14,000 since April.In October, the average home price across the six-county region climbed to $860,773 — a 0.01% increase compared to September.However, prices were still down 1.4% compared to October 2024.Economists and real estate agents say a variety of factors have slowed the market, including high mortgage rates, rising inventory and economic uncertainty stemming from tariffs.

The same factors continued in October, but the uptick reflects a slight dip in inventory as more sellers choose to hang on to their homes.Listings in L.A.County fell 2% month-over-month, and the share of homes with price cuts dropped slightly as well.

But there’s still inventory aplenty compared to 2024.In October, there were 19% more homes for sale than there were last year.Back then, rising mortgage rates were knocking many buyers out of the market.

Values started increasing again when the number of homes for sale plunged as sellers backed away, unwilling to give up mortgages they took out earlier in the pandemic with rates of 3% and lower.Real estate agents say homeowners increasingly want to take the next step in their lives and are deciding to move rather than hold on to their ultra-low mortgage rates.But many first-time buyers, without access to equity, remain locked out.Add on the economic uncertainty and you get a market that’s noticeably downshifted.If the Trump administration’s policies end up pushing the economy into a recession, some economists say home prices could drop much further.

For now, Zillow is forecasting that the economy will avoid a recession and home prices will increase over the next year.The real estate firm expects that one year from now, home prices in the Los Angeles-Orange County metro region will be 1.4% higher than they are now, though ...