At first glance, November looked a lot like any housing market looks as it cools down for the holiday months. Admittedly, the surges and drops in absorption rate weren’t too remarkable. But a closer look reveals a neighborhood dramatically dropping to its lowest absorption rate since we started publishing our numbers. Meanwhile, another city is tying the longest that a market has held the same absorption rate over consecutive months since we started this monthly report. Finally, changes in data mean that, moving forward, instead of assessing Valencia/Santa Clarita, we’ll be looking at Valencia/Canyon Country. So, November was actually pretty colorful – if you know where to look. Let’s dive in.
- Burbank – 34%
- Encino – 15%
- Glendale – 35%
- Long Beach – 37%
- Los Angeles – 19%
- Northridge – 38%
- Palmdale – 18%
- Pasadena – 32%
- Rancho Cucamonga – 32%
- Reseda – 20%
- Upland – 38%
- Valencia-Canyon Country – 29%
Absorption Rate FAQs
What’s an absorption rate in real estate?
Never heard of an absorption rate? It’s a calculated estimate of whether a housing market favors buyers (a buyers’ market) or sellers (a sellers’ market). It’s universally accepted that absorption rates of 18% or higher favor the seller, whereas absorption rates of 15% or lower indicate conditions favoring buyers. Of course, there’s plenty of wiggle room – so much so that the area between 15% and 18% is simply a blurred boundary between the markets.
Why does JohnHart only consider single-family homes in its absorption rate statistics?
Over the years, it’s become abundantly clear that JohnHart’s clients are overwhelmingly and strictly interested in single-family homes. Since condos and townhouses are outliers here, we felt leaving them out of the equation presented a picture more accurate to the interests of our clients.
How does JohnHart calculate absorption rates?
We use the universal formula:
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like… the Beginning of the Year
If we simply look at the surges and drops, November appears to be a classically cooling market, leading us into the year-end holiday season. The most dramatic surges were a significant but by no means record-breaking 6 percentage point hop in Northridge, Upland, and Pasadena. For Northridge and Upland, this was enough to earn them the highest absorption rates of the month at 38%. However, this isn’t exactly new ground for these markets. Long Beach, even with its single percentage point drop, was at their heels in November with a 37% absorption rate. Sellers, take note. These aren’t record-breaking numbers, but they do place these three markets in familiar heights they haven’t reached since the first half of 2025.
Dream Home in Reseda
On the other side of the spectrum, Reseda dropped a head-turning 9 percentage points for the most considerable shift in absorption rate for November. This is doubly significant because it places Reseda at its lowest absorption rate since we started sharing these numbers. We bet you didn’t have Reseda hitting a record low in November on your Bingo card. Often, these sudden drops surge back up the following month, but perhaps this is a sign of a Reseda that’s softer on buyers. Either way, if you’ve been dreaming of owning real estate in Reseda, this could be your sign.
Familiar Favor for Buyers
But even with Reseda’s impressive tumble closer to the buyer’s market, the lowest absorption rate of the month goes to a community that smiles on the buyer more consistently than any of the rest we monitor. Encino is camped at the threshold again, dropping 5 percentage points to a 15% absorption rate. The City of Los Angeles, another market that tends to go easier on the buyers, was a few steps behind Reseda with a 19% absorption rate.
Record-Tying Consistency
Speaking of Los Angeles, the city is getting our attention by barely budging over the last 4 months. Since August, LA has stubbornly locked into a 19% absorption rate. And while there have been micro-fluctuations, it’s never been enough to nudge to a different rounded whole number. The only market we’ve seen with that kind of consistency was Rancho Cucamonga when it held a 28% absorption rate for 4 consecutive months from May until August this year. Will LA beat that streak? We doubt it, but we won’t know for sure until the new year!
Make Your December as Effective as Possible
December is often a quieter month for the Absorption Rate Analysis, when lower inventory pushes the needle back toward the seller’s market almost unanimously. While we’ve seen strange things happen over 2025 as the market adapts to numerous key factors and influences, we’re not convinced it will be enough to break this December tradition. So, we recommend using the month to optimize your home’s value and hit 2026 in the right shape to make whatever move your heart desires. The off-season can be the perfect time to strategize, so if you have some ideas or just want some general direction with your distant real estate plans, reach out to one of our creative agents today!
With a brand that says as much as JohnHart’s, Senior Copywriter Seth Styles never finds himself at a loss for words. Responsible for maintaining the voice of the company, he spends each day drafting marketing materials, blogs, bios, and agent resources that speak from the company’s collective mind and Hart… errr, heart.
Having spent over a decade in creative roles across a variety of industries, Seth brings with him vast experience in SEO practices, digital marketing, and all manner of professional writing with particular strength in blogging, content creation, and brand building. Gratitude, passion, and sincerity remain core tenets of his unwavering work ethic. The landscape of the industry changes daily, paralleling JohnHart’s efforts to {re}define real estate, but Seth works to maintain the company’s consistent message while offering both agents and clients a new echelon of service.
When not preserving the JohnHart essence in stirring copy, Seth puts his efforts into writing and illustrating an ongoing series entitled The Death of Romance. In addition, he adores spending quality time with his girlfriend and Romeo (his long-haired chihuahua mix), watching ‘70s and ‘80s horror movies, and reading (with a particular penchant for Victorian horror novels and authors Yukio Mishima and Bret Easton Ellis). He also occasionally records music as the vocalist and songwriter for his glam rock band, Peppermint Pumpkin.
