Entertainment
After the Fires, Los Angeles Becomes Even Tougher for New Buyers
With fierce competition and less inventory, potential buyers are bracing for a fight or wondering if they will have to leave the city to become homeowners.
This was supposed to be the year that Joel Cruz and his family would buy a house. The owner of a popular taco truck catering business called Oaxaca on Wheels, Mr. Cruz had begun to look in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles, where his family has rented an apartment for the past 20 years.
Mr. Cruz, 43, liked a three-bedroom, two-bath house he saw at an open house held on a Saturday in January, especially since it was priced under $1 million. It reminded him of days past when homes twice the size in the same neighborhood listed for a similar price.
“I regret not buying before. It was always a dream — first the business, then the home,” Mr. Cruz said. “Now I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Demand for housing has increased in and around Los Angeles following January’s wildfires, which contributed to a shrinking inventory, making the market even more competitive than it has been in the past. Rising interest rates and the difficulty of finding insurance compound the problem.
Cipriano Ramirez, a mortgage loan initiator, has seen families recalculate their budgets to accommodate rising interest rates.
