Since the dawn of 2010, real estate activity in Brentwood, as well as across the Westside, has been picking up.
Due to its many desirable features– neighborhood vibe, good public schools, proximity to highways and the diversity of housing options— Brentwood has fared as well as an area could during the economic downturn.
Sales prices for homes in the area have grown fifteen percent over the last five years compared to the city overall, which has seen a decline of nearly thirty percent since 2005.
“There’s still not a great amount of inventory, which has kept prices from dropping as much as in other areas,†Wendy Kirshner of The Kirshner Group reports. “Due to the pent up demand, interest rates still being very low and a lot of buyers wanting property, I see a very positive forecast.â€
The average home in the zip code sold for $1.6 million over the last three-month period, a twenty-five percent growth from the previous period that closed out 2009. But it should be noted that because of the huge range of housing options in the area — from condos to gated estates — the average price of residences vacillates significantly.
Although the number of sales in Brentwood has fluctuated over the past year, the market has bobbed safely above the nadir of the first half of 2008 and now seems to have leveled off at a higher point, with some nominal fluctuation.
Kirshner points out that historically the market peaks, then declines or “corrects itself†and eventually reaches a new height that tops the previous. It’s unclear though, when, or if that cycle will resume.
The last time around, a series of unique factors were at play such as a Wall Street boom, an explosion of new media markets, extreme growth of developing world economies, and other factors that may have contributed to a once-in-a-lifetime climate for real estate.
