LA’s got style. Just watch any red-carpet episode preceding an awards show (ok – I didn’t say anything about taste!).
Everyone has their own style, and to many it’s a huge part of their identity. But what about house style? Does the style of house impact its value or desirability, and what types of styles seem to be most popular here in Hancock Park?
I decided to take a closer look at the issue. For the purposes of this analysis I just looked at Hancock Park, Fremont Place and Windsor Square, and I looked at every sale since 7/1/12 – there were 98 closings in those areas in that time.
Here’s the tale of the tape regarding the style of homes sold:
Mediterranean – 21
Traditional – 17
Spanish – 16
Country English – 12
Tudor – 12
Colonial – 6
Other styles were sold such as Craftsman, French Normandy and Cape Cod, though there were fewer than five such sales in the past year of each.
What can we tell from these numbers? One thing is that Mediterranean and Spanish style homes combine to represent 39% of all sales in the past 12 months. This isn’t surprising, given the obvious influence of that architecture when Hancock Park was developed in the early 1900s. Country English and Tudor combined to makeup another 24% of sold homes.
Can we learn anything else – does style impact sale-ability? This data will not answer that question (though we know style does count), but here is a look at the average number of days on market (before the property sold) for the listings within each style.
Country English – 32 days on market
Colonial – 44 days on market
Spanish – 47 days on market
Tudor – 51 days on market
Mediterranean – 56 days on market (though six sold within three weeks)
Traditional – 59 days on market
(If a house sat on the market longer than six months, I didn’t factor its average into the equation.)
What does this tell us? Should we base our purchase decision on style, to maximize re-sale? I don’t think we can draw that conclusion – but we do know that style is important, and that buyers in this area seem to like, and react, to certain types of homes. But don’t worry if you don’t see the type of home you have on this list – there were only two Craftsman properties sold in the last year, but they sold in an average of 32 days!
I think the most important factors when considering the appeal of a home are – condition and quality, exact location, presence of any “permanent” defects, and of course…PRICE! The price you pay goes a long way toward determining the appreciation you’ll enjoy, and the price you list at is the single biggest factor on how long the house stays on the market.
But it’s also true that style matters – whether it’s on the red carpet, or here in Hancock Park.
More from Chase! — This was very interesting — looks like its time to go about buying up some bland “Traditionals” and rehabbing them into “English Country”… my favorite style to begin with…