Long Beach Housing Market Predictions for 2017

Recent forecasts for the Long Beach, California housing market suggest that home prices in the area could rise more slowly in 2017, compared to the growth seen in 2016.

Like many California cities, home prices in Long Beach increased steadily during 2016, outpacing the national average in terms of appreciation. But if recent housing market predictions are any indication, the Long Beach real estate market could begin to cool over the coming months.

It seems unlikely that home prices in the city will rise as much in 2017 as they did in 2016. On the contrary, some housing analysts have forecast slower appreciation for the Long Beach real estate market in 2017.

2017 Forecast for Long Beach Housing Market

The economists at Zillow, for example, are predicting a lower level of home-price appreciation over the next 12 months, when compared to the previous 12 months.

According to a December 2016 statement on the company’s website: “Long Beach home values have gone up 7.5% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will rise 1.6% within the next year.”

At the time this article was published, in early December 2016, the median home price in the city was around $500,000 — quite a bit higher than the same time in 2015. Going forward, however, only modest gains are expected for the Long Beach housing market in 2017.

Prediction: One of the ‘Hottest’ Markets of 2017?

In contrast to the modest forecast offered by Zillow (see above), we have a stronger prediction from the analysts at Realtor.com. According to their 2017 national housing forecast, published in November, the Long Beach real estate market could be one of the hottest in the country in 2017.

Their team looked at current housing trends in the top 100 metro areas across the country, and ranked the top 10 housing markets for 2017 based on anticipated home price and sales gains. As part of the Los Angeles metro area, Long Beach made the top five. Two other metro areas in California cracked the top five as well.

According to the company’s November 30th report:

“The realtor.com® 2017 top 10 housing markets based on price and sales gains are: 1. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.; 2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.; 3. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.; 4. Sacramento-Roseville–Arden-Arcade, Calif.; 5. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif…”

The company predicts that the greater L.A. metro area housing market will appreciate by 6.9% in 2017, with a 6% increase in home sales.

Granted, this forecast applies to the entire Los Angeles metro area, a diverse region that includes dozens of individual cities. So it’s possible that Long Beach will perform much differently than the above forecast.

Overall, the general consensus appears to be that home prices in Long Beach, California will continue to rise through 2017, though probably at a slower pace than 2016.

Higher Loan Limits Across the County

Here’s a 2017 Long Beach housing market forecast that we know will come true. Both FHA and conforming loan limits will go up next year, in response to rising home values.

Over the last few weeks, federal housing officials have released the new (and revised) loan limits for both conventional and FHA-insured mortgage loans. Most counties across the country will see an increase in 2017, for both types of loans. And that applies to Long Beach, California as well.

Loan limits vary by county and are based on median home prices. In 2016, the loan limit for both FHA and conventional mortgage loans in Los Angeles County was $625,500, for a single-family home. In 2017, the limit will go up to $636,150. Anything above this cap is considered a “jumbo” mortgage and might require a larger down payment, higher credit score, etc.

Read more about California loan limits.

Disclaimer: This article includes predictions and forecasts for the Long Beach housing market in 2017. These forward-looking statements were provided by third parties not associated with our company. We have presented them here as an educational service for our readers.