Real estate agent Do said she is not seeing a flood of calls from people seeking to list their house.

Some of the calls she does get come from people asking her to run the numbers to see if it makes more financial sense to lease their house rather than sell it since rents are high and they have sub-3% mortgage rates.

"They are just thinking of keeping it as long-term investment, because they can," Do said. "They have such a low overhead."

High prices

If you're looking for a screaming deal, you'll be disappointed, according to many economists.

According to Zillow, home prices across the six-county Southern California area dipped slightly in November and December, while they remained largely flat in January.

Part of the reason is high mortgage rates prevented buyers from bidding up the cost of housing. But economists say part of the lack of movement in values is seasonality, since the winter is typically a slow time in the market.

As buyers return this spring, some experts predict there will be enough of a mismatch between supply and demand to send prices back up.

Overall, Zillow expects home prices in January 2025 to be 4.5% higher than January 2024 in the Inland Empire counties of Riverside and San Bernardino. Across Los Angeles and Orange counties, prices are predicted to climb 2.6%.

However, economists say prices could fall if the Federal Reserve's actions to beat back inflation push the nation into a recession.

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