The first half of the year has been none like ever before. We’ve had the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve had high unemployment, business closures, no school, quarantine, masks, even more quarantine possibly coming. What does this all mean to your apartment building, your investment in the city of Long Beach?
Today I’m going to give you a midyear review, explain what the numbers from Quarter 2 of 2020 are telling us, and how it’s going to impact the value of your fourplex in Long Beach.
As your Long Beach fourplex market leader, we’re going to give you an update on what is going on in the fourplex market of Long Beach, California.
In this 2020 Quarter 2 Market Update, we will discuss:
- Number of Sales
- Days on Market
- Inventory
Number of Sales
Number of sales so far this year, we’re at 33. Last year at the same time we were at 47. So, we’ve seen a decrease in sales transactions by 30%. Not too shockingly. Our team is not that concerned because the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on both buyers and sellers.
The buyers have decided to take this “wait and see approach” to see if there’s going to be a drop in values. And then the sellers, a lot of our clients have decided “let’s wait, get through this and maybe put our property on the market the beginning of the third Quarter,” which we’re now in.
I’m not super concerned that there’s been a drop because obviously there’s a big reason why – the pandemic.
- Through Quarter 1 and Quarter 2, 2019: 47 fourplexes sold
- Through Quarter 1 and Quarter 2, 2020: 33 fourplexes sold
- Decrease in number of sales of approximately 30% compared to this time in 2019
Days on Market
In the first Quarter of this year, if you were a fourplex owner you wanted to sell your property, your property on average was sitting on the market 37 days.
The second quarter, this is right in the middle of our pandemic, it took 67 days. So, it’s 81% increase in terms of marketing, in terms of exposure on the market. So certainly much, much higher, and that’s understandably so.
We will see how that performs and if there’s a drop in days on market that come Quarter 3.
- Days on Market for Quarter 1, 2020: 37 days
- Days on Market for Quarter 2, 2020: 67 days
- Increase in days on market of approximately 81% – properties took much longer to sell in Quarter 2
Inventory
Inventory from January through June has been pretty consistent inventory. We haven’t really seen a big spike. We’ve been at about 28 fourplexes on the market, give or take, at any point at the time, so that’s consistent.
Because I do expect a few of the sellers to put their properties on the market now, I do expect an uptick going into Quarter 3. That’s a benefit to both sellers and buyers, and certainly buyers who are looking for a better option, maybe a bigger selection of properties, that should be coming our way here soon.
- Inventory has remained consistent through Quarter 1 and 2 of 2020 at around 28.
Long Beach Fourplex Specialists
Like I mentioned before, our firm specializes in studying the market, the stats specific to fourplexes in Long Beach. No other firm has taken this approach. We’ve made it our priority. We’re also the market leaders, and it’s the reason why when we sell a property, it sells for 10% more and sells 10 times faster. So, if you’d like to learn more, please reach out to us.
Another thing that makes us different, a lot of the larger commercial brokerage firms, they like to focus on the larger buildings, five units, eight units, 12 units and if they list your fourplex, it’s almost ancillary. That’s not really their main focus. They want to go after the bigger units. And vice versa when you list with a residential agent, sure they’ll list your fourplex, but that’s not their main focus either.
Clearly when you sell a four unit building or buy a four unit building, it’s not a house and there’s a certain component, including a market analysis and a financial analysis.
That’s why it’s important who you work with, and you owe it to yourself to work with the folks that are spending the most time and energy in what impacts the value of your property.
