More Single-Family Homes, Fewer Condos on the Market

The year-end 1987 inventory of new housing units for sale in the six-county Southland area rose 4% to 12,720 from 12,221 at midyear, but it was down 16% from the 15,116 units counted at the end of 1986, according to the Real Estate Research Council of Southern California.

New unsold single-family detached housing increased 16% to 8,832 units in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties, while attached condominiums and townhouses fell 16% to 3,888, the lowest level in the decade, according to Michael Carney, executive director of the research group.

He said the statistics appear to show that detached housing has been fine-tuned by builders to sell at about their rate of production. The small inventory of attached housing is a reflection of buyer preference for detached housing and the response of builders to this preference, Carney added.

Compared to midyear 1987, inventories rose in four of the counties: Los Angeles, up 12%; Riverside, 11%; San Bernardino, 9%, and San Diego, 9%. The inventory of unsold housing fell 14% in Orange County and a whopping 47% in Ventura County, bringing that county’s unsold total to 359 at the end of last year.

Other year-end county totals were: Los Angeles, 2,287; Orange, 1,322; Riverside, 3,745; San Bernardino, 2,320, and San Diego, 2,687.