Real Estate Sales Remain Strong : Average Price Up From October; Dip in Volume Tied to Season
Despite a seasonal cooling of the residential real estate market, sales and prices in the San Fernando Valley remained strong in November, the Valley Board of Realtors reported Monday.
The average resale price of single-family homes was $180,800, up 1.2% from October and up 13.2% from November of 1985. Realtors in the Valley sold 968 houses, down 12.1% from October but up 18.3% from November of 1985.
The condominium market also continued to show marked improvement from last year’s sluggish performance.
The average resale price for Valley condos was $115,200, up 1% from October and up 2.2% from a year earlier. Sales volume of 194 units was off 16.4% from October but up a strong 50.4% from November of 1985.
A board spokesman said holiday concerns, cooler weather and the resumption of school customarily cause residential sales to drop off after October but that this November was much stronger than last year’s.
Board president Temmy Walker said favorable interest rates were still the main factor in all the buying.
The board also noted that the market showed “exceptional activity” north of Roscoe Boulevard and west of the San Diego Freeway.
The total number of units sold in that area--Northridge, Chatsworth, Mission Hills, Granada Hills and sections of Canoga Park--remained relatively low compared to other areas of the Valley. But available units sold faster in those communities than elsewhere, the board said.
Board Executive Vice President Robert G. Adamson said buyers were drawn by lower prices in the northwestern Valley and by proximity to the Simi Valley Freeway, which is less congested than the Ventura Freeway to the south.
Buyers are “willing to trade location for advantages in price, size and freeway access,” he said.
The board said realtors sold 151 homes for an average of $179,200 in the northwest Valley. By comparison, 164 homes sold for an average of $212,500 in the southwest section, which includes Woodland Hills. That area had the highest average resale price.
In the least expensive section, the northeast Valley, 152 single-family homes sold for an average of $120,100.
Buyers continued to show a strong preference in November for Encino, Sherman Oaks and Studio City. Fully a quarter of the 1,163 sales Valleywide during November were in that area.
The overall inventory of unsold homes and condos, while increasing 1.1% over 1985, declined 5.9% from October, to 7,256 units. That is a relatively low inventory for an area with 1.2 million residents, realtors say, and reflects the fact that homes do not stay on the market long.
Condominium listings in the Valley continued to increase at a higher rate than those of homes--up 29.2% for condos compared to an 8% increase in single-family home listings. A total of 411 condos and 1,276 homes came on the market in November, the board said.
The realty board compiles figures for home and condo sales by its members in the area from North Hollywood to Agoura. Sales of new homes and condos generally are not included because such sales usually are not handled by real estate agents.
Similarly, existing residences sold by owners without real estate agents are not included in the figures.
Thus, the board’s figures give an incomplete picture of the Valley real estate market, but they do point to trends.
