Housing Sales Rise 25% in October, but Slump Isn’t Over

The area’s housing slump seemed to ease as sales of existing single-family houses increased 25% to 772 in October from 620 in September, the San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors said Monday.

But there’s no doubt that the housing market is still in the doldrums. Compared with a year ago, single-family house resales last month were down 26% from 1,048 in October, 1989.

Meanwhile the average resale price of a single-family house in the San Fernando Valley fell 3% to $288,000 in October from $297,300 in September. The latest price also marked a decline of about 6% from $305,500 from October, 1989.

It has been a tough few months for the real estate market across the state. The California Assn. of Realtors said Monday that sales of single-family houses in the state were 12% lower in July, August and September than in the same three months of 1989, making the pace of sales the slowest in any quarter since 1985.

Locally, one of the biggest increases in sales came in the southwest corner of the Valley, where the number of single-family houses resold jumped 33% to 166 from 125 in September, while the average resale price of a single-family house dropped 12% to $338,000 in October from $383,800 in September.

The increase in sales last month helped reduce the huge inventory of unsold houses in the Valley by about 4%, to 10,512 in October from 10,910 in September. But the house inventory was still 12% higher than a year ago, when 9,382 houses went unsold.

New single-family house listings grew 15% to 2,241 in October from 1,952 in September.

Meanwhile, the average resale price of a condominium jumped 7% to $156,000 in October from $145,800 in September. This was about 2% higher than $153,000, the average price in October, 1989.

Sales of existing condos rose 19% to 269 from 226 in September. But that was still 39% lower than in October, 1989, when 444 condos were resold.

The Valley realty board, California’s largest, reports housing sales by its members in the area from Agoura to North Hollywood. Its statistics do not include sales of most new residences.

October Valley Home Sales North West Avg. Price: $291,900 Sales: 28 North Central Avg. Price: $295,400 Sales: 108 North East Avv. Price: $184,400 Sales: 158 South West Avg. Price: $338,000 Sales: 166 South Central Avg. Price: $311,400 Sales: 98 South East Avg. Price: $310,800 Sales: 214