Housing demand rises, but supply doesn’t
Jackson Bell
The high standard of living along with interest rates at a 38-year
low were the driving force for Burbank’s strong home sales in
December, said Minnie Lush, the president of the Burbank Assn. of
Realtors.
Up 18.1% from the previous year, according to DataQuick
Information Services, the $359,000 price of last month’s median home
sales is a $65,000 jump. The rate is on par with the county’s 17.9%
increase, and is continuing the three-year streak of Burbank’s strong
real-estate market.
“As a result, we have more buyers than sellers,” Lush said. “We’re
short of inventory.”
She also said the main reason Burbank’s home sales surpassed the
national median of $164,000, California’s record-high figure of
$338,110 and $274,000 for the county is the attractiveness of such
highly regarded city services as the Burbank Unified School District
and the police and fire departments.
The other factor is that interest rates dropped to a low of 5.9%,
a level not seen since 1965.
In comparison, the rates 10 years ago were between 9 and 11%.
“It has inspired many renters to qualify for loans,” Lush said.
“As a result, they have been able to buy homes.”
Stuart Chase, the owner of Chase Realty, agrees.
“Rents are rising, and when the after-tax cost of a house gets
close to the cost of rent, you buy,” he said.
But with the lackluster economy, many people who have become
disenchanted with the stock market have decided to reinvest in
housing.
Lush said the healthy real-estate market is the engine that has
been driving the economy in Los Angeles County and through much the
rest of the country.
The demand for housing outweighs supply, Chase said, and is
related to the city government’s zoning efforts to keep Burbank’s
small-town integrity despite the increase in residents.
“They control the density, which controls the number of homes,”
Chase said.
“What they do is maintain the quality of life, which is less
traffic, fewer people and less obtrusive buildings.”