Valley so low: Median prices down 34% from ’07 levels

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News item from the Daily News via LA Biz Observed: ‘The median price of a San Fernando Valley home in June fell 34 percent from a year earlier, which was the record-high ($655,000). The price dropped 4 percent from May, and is now nearing 2004 levels.’

More data, from the Southland Regional Assn. of Realtors:

--In the San Fernando Valley, sales of existing homes fell 3.6% from June 2007 levels, and remain at the lowest levels for June in 24 years of SRAR statistics. Pending escrows are running 20.6% ahead of year-ago levels. Inventory -- 6,935 properties for sale at the end of June -- is up 1.6% from year-ago levels.

--In the Santa Clarita Valley, sales of existing single-family homes in June paced 11.2% ahead of year-ago levels, while the median price fell 25.6%, to $450,000. That’s a decline of $193,000, or 30%, from the record level of $643,000 in April 2006. Inventory -- 1,940 active listings -- is down 16.4% from June 2007 levels.

Worth noting: Citing dropping inventory, SRAR officials say they believe ‘further steep price discounts are unlikely’ in the Santa Clarita Valley: ‘Real estate is extremely local, with the Santa Clarita Valley far better off than other, harder-hit areas of the state, especially those that had large numbers of new home tracts aimed primarily at first-time home buyers,’ said Jim Link, chief executive officer of the SRAR.

Doreen Chastain-Shine, president of the SRAR’s Santa Clarita Valley division, added, ‘No doubt that foreclosures and short sales are up and there are still current homeowners at risk of losing the property. But the pressure on prices is not nearly as great as buyers assume simply because there are not nearly enough active listings to force sellers or banks to accept steep discounts.’

--Peter Viles
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Photo Credit: Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, via L.A. Times.