West Hollywood Market Round-Up -- July 2009

Six single family homes sold in the West Hollywood area in July 2009 with a median sale price of $865,000.

The highest priced sale was 351 Westbourne Avenue, a 3 br, 2.5 ba, 2,000 sq ft newly rebuilt home, which sold for $1,675,000, after 253 days on the market. The original list price was $1,929,000. This was the only single family sale in the area over $1 million during the month.
8908 Dorrington Avenue, a 2 br, 1 ba, 1,140 sq ft home on a 3,999 sq ft lot sold for $860,000 after 53 days on the market. The original list price was $975,000.

To illustrate how values have fallen in the past year, we can turn to the sale of 8920 Dorrington Avenue, a 2 br, 2 ba 1,074 sq ft home on a 3,999 sq ft lot, which sold for $1,140,000 in July 2007. The sales of these two Dorrington homes suggest that values in the $1 million range have dropped approximately 25% in the past two years.

Sales volume and median price are on par with July 2008, when six single family homes sold in West Hollywood with a median sale price of $860,000.
One income property sold in the West Hollywood area during July 2009. 1243 N Genesee Avenue, a 10-unit building with 7,038 sq ft of living area on a 13,466 sq ft lot, sold for $1,650,000, well below its original $2,450,000 asking price, after 320 days on the market.

Gross income is $136,500, giving a GRM (gross rent multiplier) of 12.1. Gone are the days when income property buyers would pay over-inflated values for units just because they happen to be in a desirable West Hollywood neighborhood. The rout in real estate values has created a leveling effect so that properties from the Eastside and the Westside are selling at similar metrics.