Micro-Market Snapshot: In Santa Clarita, Buyers Are “Cautious,” “Confused”

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The temperature flirted with triple digits today in Santa Clarita, but the real estate market is nowhere near as warm. New homes are still being built, buyers still come north from the San Fernando Valley because their money buys more house here, but the buses of investors -- yes, they came up in buses two years ago to snap up new houses -- have stopped coming. If a home isn’t new, it will often sit on the market.

‘One home will go on the market and get an offer in two days. Another will sit for a year,’ real estate agent (and blogger) Linda Slocum told us. Traffic is down at open houses, and in some cases, prices are too: a 2 1/2-year-old five-bedroom Mediterranean (pictured) was listed a year ago at $889,000, a price based on a comparable sale in the neighborhood that proved misleading. The house didn’t sell and is back on the market, this time priced at $785,000.

‘Buyers are more cautious,’ Linda tells LA Land. ‘People aren’t as anxious to buy as they were. And sellers are frustrated that they can’t get the price that they want.’

Multiple offers are down but not gone: ‘Even for lower-priced condos we still see some multiple bids -- not four or five bids, but two or three,’ Linda says.

One snag in the market: unrealistic pricing by sellers, who hold on to older comps and hope to get them. ‘Sellers are still thinking about what their neighbor’s house sold for eight months ago,’ Linda says. ‘Sorry, it’s not eight months ago.’

Buyer behavior? ‘I would say buyers, for the most part, are confused,’ Linda says. ‘There is still that mentality of, they want more house than they can afford.’

People move to Santa Clarita because it’s clean, the houses are new and their money goes further than it does a few miles south, in the Valley. Valencia, with miles of walking trails, bike trails and newly planted trees in the medians, has a fresh feel to it. In general, the newer the development, and the closer it is to the 5 Freeway, the higher the prices.