Plunge in 1990 Housing Sales Marks Worst Decline in Decade

Sales of existing single-family houses in December inched up 1% from the previous month, but it wasn’t nearly enough to offset a 32% plunge in sales for all of 1990, as the region’s real estate slump took hold, according to figures released Monday by the San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors.

Last year’s sales drop, to 8,726 units from 12,753 in 1989, was the worst annual drop since the board began keeping separate records for single-family houses in 1985.

Combined sales of single-family houses and condominiums last year totaled 12,039, down 31% from 17,310 the previous year. It was the worst decline for that combined category in a decade, when sales plunged 38% to 12,416 in 1980--when the last major economic recession began--from the still-record high sales mark of 19,964 units in 1979.

However, last year’s combined sales figures were considerably stronger than during the last recession, when combined sales of single-family houses and condominiums totaled 9,448 in 1981 and 6,598 in 1982, the board’s figures show.

Housing prices in the Valley, meanwhile, continue to hold relatively firm. The average resale price for single-family houses in December was $292,100, up 4% from $280,200 in November but down 5% from $308,500 a year earlier.

Sales of condominiums last month totaled 180, down 16% from the 214 sold in November and down 37% from the 284 sold in December, 1989. The average sales price of a condominium last month was $150,000, up 1% from $148,800 in November and down 3% from 154,700 a year earlier.

Condominium prices for all of 1990 averaged $151,983, up 5% from $144,542 the previous year, and 1990 condominium sales totaled 3,313, 28% fewer than the 4,571 sold in 1989, the board said.

Despite last year’s sales downturn, the average price for single-family houses sold during all of 1990 was $296,675, up 1% from 1989. And the average price of single-family houses and condominiums combined in 1990 was $257,192, a record high and also up 1% from the previous year, the board reported.

The numbers added up to a year in which Valley housing sales slowed considerably from the frenzied activity of the late-1980s, when prices soared. But the housing market was not nearly as bad as during the last recession in the early 1980s.

The figures also provided a snapshot of how Valley housing prices have soared over the past 20 years, much faster than inflation overall. Last year’s average price for sales of single-family houses and condominiums together was 8.3 times higher than the $31,100 average in 1970. During the same period, inflation--as measured by the U.S. Labor Department’s consumer price index--rose about 3.5 times.

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.

S.F. VALLEY SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSE SALES 1985-90

Average Percent Percent Year Price Change Sales Change 1990 $296,675 +1% 8,726 -32% 1989 $295,125 +19% 12,753 -16% 1988 $248,492 +22% 15,263 +15% 1987 $203,433 +17% 13,334 - 5% 1986 $173,708 +11% 13,985 +24% 1985 $156,755 NA 11,322 NA

NA: Not available

Source: San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors

December Valley Home Sales North West Avg. Price: $416,600 Sales: 32 North Central Avg. Price: $283,300 Sales: 96 North East Avg. Price: $188,900 Sales: 118 South West Avg. Price: $366,400 Sales: 135 South Central Avg. Price: $330,800 Sales: 79 South East Avg. Price: $265,200 Sales: 149