South Bay Digs • March 1, 2013

It seems like every other conversation I’m having these days with local real estate professionals centers around the topic of “off market” inventory. For our purposes, we refer to “off market” as the properties that are not listed in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) but are actively for sale in the local market. While this is a subject of much debate, the “off market” inventory in the Beach Cities in the South Bay may be as high as 10% of total available listings for sale at any given time. What is for certain in today’s real estate market is that there are more buyers than sellers, inventory is still low and prices seem to be edging up. As we get into Spring, the market should give us a good indication if inventory will loosen up, but I’m starting to feel that the tide may be turning.