The market in Torrance has continued to be very favorable to sellers with the demand so high and the inventory still considerably low.  The past 3 months have seen a slight increase in inventory which may be temporary or may be showing signs that the very beginning of a more balanced market is on it’s way.  Keep in mind that Torrance is a big city and prices, demand, values, and trends can vary considerably throughout the city.  The chart below shows the number of active Torrance homes for sale (light green bar) the number of homes that went into escrow (red line) and the number of homes sold in that month (teal bar).  When the trend shows a monthly increase in homes for sale the market is heading towards a more balanced situation.  At the moment it is very much a sellers market.

For buyers, and especially first time buyers, the chart below is a helpful tool to determine what price to offer.  This is for all of Torrance and different neighborhoods vary, and certainly individual homes can be a different situation depending on what price is was listed at.  For the month of September selling prices were within 3% of the list prices.

What does this mean?

For buyers this generally means that “going in low” is probably not the right strategy.  Consult with your realtor as they should have a handle on what the value of the home should be and whether the asking price was set too high, or too low in the hopes of generating multiple offers and a potential bidding war.