Average Price for Single-Family Homes Jumps to $193,300

The average resale price of single-family homes in the San Fernando Valley shot up to $193,300 last month, the Valley Board of Realtors reported.

A board spokesman said the figure is believed to be the highest single-family average ever here, although there are no definitive figures. He said the combined average resale price of homes and condominiums, at $179,900, has never been higher.

The April average price for single-family home resales is up 4.6% from March, when the figure was $184,700, and is up 9.3% from a year ago. Valley realtors sold 1,239 homes in April, up from 1,157 in March but down from 1,354 a year ago.

Condominium sales continue to show strength despite an ample supply of units on the market. April’s average resale price was $117,600, up 3.5% since March, when the average was $113,600. The average price a year ago was $110,700.

Realtors sold 266 condominium units in April, down from 277 in March but up from 250 a year ago, indicating that the recovery continues for that previously moribund market.

Board officials said the sharply higher single-family home prices were due to a shortage of houses on the market in the face of strong demand. The board said that some homes sold the same day they were listed.

But board officials added that the shortage of homes for sale and the recent sharp rise in mortgage interest rates is likely to slow home sales soon.

“I think that you’ll have a little slowdown, but not much,” countered Roger Gertz, president of Fallbrook Mortgage, a Canoga Park mortgage banker.

He said interest rates have turned upward a bit, but they are still no higher than a year ago.