I swear I meant to get this post up sooner, but I have been swamped between clients, parenting, and being the Girl Scout Cookie Mom (send help!). After sitting down yesterday and writing out the Santa Clarita Market Update, I told myself I needed to sit down and get this one out so that it stops haunting me.

Anyway, enough of my excuses. Let’s get down to business and talk about what happened in the month of January for Palmdale and Lancaster! And of course, I am going to begin with prices because that is the most obvious thing that everyone cares about.

If you recall my post last month, Palmdale had a median sales price of $515k for December, and Lancaster was at $440k. For January, Palmdale came in at $525k and Lancaster at $447k, so both are up from last month and even from a year ago.

In January 2025, Palmdale’s median sales price was $480k and Lancaster was $460k, so both are higher now.

I believe we will see this trend continue, especially with so many people relocating to the Antelope Valley from other areas in LA County. Recently, I hosted an open house for a listing I have on Glenwood Dr, and we had about 40 groups come through. I talked to just about every single one of them, and only three families mentioned that they were local. The rest were moving from Torrance, DTLA, San Fernando, and other surrounding areas. They all mentioned that it is much more affordable, and because of that, they were willing to make the commute.

So there is demand. As long as demand continues and inventory remains lower, we will likely see prices rise, especially if rates continue to decrease.

Now for days on market. Days on market is helpful because it tells you how long homes are taking to sell, and both buyers and sellers should know this. For sellers, this is how you set your own expectations and craft a game plan for when you will reduce the price of your home if needed. For buyers, this tells you when a home has actually been on the market a “long” time.

Right now, if a home is listed for 50 days, there is likely no issue. A few years ago, if you saw a home sitting on the market for 50 days, you could assume there was something going on and might have been able to justify offering less in your initial offer.

One thing I would like to add for sellers is that if you want your home to sell faster than the average, you need to act accordingly. This means prepping your home properly before it hits the market. On all of my listings, I work with homeowners and help guide them so their home shows at its best. Sometimes it is only a day’s work, and sometimes it takes a month or so. While that can sound like a lot, it is worth it, especially when you realize you are competing for a buyer’s attention.

As you can see from the above graphs, there are a lot of listings but not as many closings. For January, Palmdale had 200 active listings and only 58 sold listings. Similarly, Lancaster had 368 active listings and 68 sold listings.

So again, as I have stated in other posts, buyers, you have options and some power here. There are a lot of homes not selling or sitting on the market longer than the owner would like. This is good news for you.

Sellers, my same advice from above still applies. Your home needs to be inviting, uncluttered, and appeal to as many buyers as possible. This may mean painting walls, deep cleaning, and possibly even rearranging your furniture to make rooms feel bigger.

Staging your home is important, especially if you want to net the most money from your sale. There is a home in my neighborhood, and if I am being frank, the agent did a poor job. They listed it in line with a recent sale. The difference is that the home they used as a comp was in better condition and updated, and the sellers clearly took the time to make sure it presented well. Unfortunately, the home currently listed in my neighborhood was priced at the top of what it could have sold for if it had been in top-tier condition, and they have since adjusted the price by over $50k. I saw this coming the moment it hit the market and I wont be shocked if they take it off or continue to drop the price.

When buyers see a home that has been sitting on the market and the price keeps getting reduced, they begin to think there is something wrong with the home or that the seller is desperate. Offers tend to get worse as time goes on.

Now I know I am going on a tangent, but I want to be clear. I understand not everyone has the time or resources to stage their home and make repairs, and that is okay. However, if a seller cannot do those things for whatever reason, they must price the home accordingly to make sure they get the best offer possible. The last thing you want is your home to sit on the market with multiple price adjustments. Buyers will start to make assumptions and try to get an even better deal.

If you are curious how this info applies to you, or have any other questions I would love to schedule a mini consultation! We can do it over coffee (my treat!) or Zoom. Click Here to set that up.