Median New Home Price Hits $286,999 in 4th Quarter of ’86

Thanks to a spate of high-priced home building in the western San Fernando Valley, new homes Valley-wide sold for a median price of $286,999 in the fourth quarter of 1986, according to a survey by Roulac & Co., a real estate firm.

For the fourth quarter of 1985 the median price was $165,666. But Diane Wilson, Roulac’s Southern California sales manager, said a high proportion of the 230 homes sold in the 1985 fourth quarter were in Northeast Valley neighborhoods such as Pacoima and Lake View Terrace, where prices are generally lower.

By contrast, she said, many of the 143 units sold in the 1986 fourth quarter were in Woodland Hills, Calabasas, or Northridge, where the same house can cost much more.

For condominiums, the fourth quarter 1986 median price was $104,782, and 422 units were sold. In the 1985 fourth quarter, the median for new condos was $93,966 on 336 units sold.

For 1986, Wilson said, there were 890 single-family units sold, down from 1,126 in 1985. Condo sales totalled 1,369 last year, versus 1,522 the year before.

Overall, Wilson said, there were 69 new housing developments in the Valley last year, down from 81 the year before.

Real estate experts say there just is not much empty land in the Valley, and prices are so high that what new residential construction there is tends toward multi-family structures.

Sales of existing homes and condos far outnumber sales of new units. The Valley Board of Realtors reported that in December realtors sold 1,106 previously occupied homes for an average price of $184,000, an all-time high.