Los Angeles Real Estate Blog & Market Updates

The San Fernando Valley housing market had 675 houses for sale across Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino, and Sherman Oaks on October 19, 2026, down from 713 a week earlier. At the same time, 26% to 36% of the active listings in those communities show an asking-price reduction. Well-priced homes are going into escrow, while overpriced homes are sitting and adjusting.

Real estate communication problems, especially agents who refuse to get on the phone, are one of the most common and preventable reasons deals slow down or fall apart across the San Fernando Valley and the Westside of Los Angeles. A quick phone call between agents can resolve in minutes what a string of one-word texts cannot, and the deals moving smoothly right now are usually the ones where both sides are actually talking to each other.

California's FAIR Plan is raising residential insurance rates by an average of 29.1% starting October 15, 2026, but that number is a statewide average, not what any one homeowner will pay. In San Fernando Valley communities like Tarzana, Encino, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Woodland Hills, and Calabasas, the real difference comes down to whether a home sits in the flats or climbs into the hills, with hillside and canyon-adjacent properties facing the steepest increases.

The Sherman Oaks restaurant boom along Ventura Boulevard is bringing a wave of new spots within easy walking distance of each other, from Jawny's Philly cheesesteaks and Burger She Wrote's smash burgers to Kreation Organic's cold-pressed juices, with Yama Sushi Marketplace and Hapa Haus's golf simulators on the way. For anyone living in or considering Sherman Oaks, it is turning a familiar stretch of the Boulevard into a genuine walk-to-dinner neighborhood.

Tarzana has one of the strongest senses of community of any neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. People know each other here. • The neighborhood has deep, fascinating roots dating back to Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author who created Tarzan and literally named this community. Ventura Boulevard offers walkable access to restaurants, shops, markets, and services that rival any neighborhood in Los Angeles.