House and Condo Sales Rise 46% but Trail ’90 Pace
Sales of existing single-family houses and condominiums pushed ahead 46% in March, compared to February, but still lagged 28% behind the sales volume of a year ago, the San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors reported on Monday.
Last month, 783 single-family houses and condominiums were resold, compared to 535 in February and 1,080 in March, 1990.
Although the pace of sales was still far slower than a year ago, one positive sign is that 1,100 house and condominium sales are now in escrow, the board said, a much higher figure than sales that actually closed during March.
“Virtually all of the numbers now point to a recovery of the local residential real estate market,” the board’s president-elect, Steve Owen, said in a statement.
Steven McGough, senior vice president and manager of real estate lending for Glendale Federal Bank, said the S&L;’s volume of Valley area mortgages written in March was about the same as in February, at about $18.5 million.
But he added that home purchases--as opposed to refinancings--accounted for a slightly higher proportion of those mortgages in March.
Sales of existing single-family houses in the Valley rose 52% to 595 in March, compared to 391 in February, according to the board’s survey.
But the monthly sales volume still lagged 20% behind that of a year ago, when 739 houses were resold.
Despite the improvement in sales last month, prices for single-family houses continue to drop.
The average price of a single-family house fell 4% in March to $281,600 from $294,200 in February, and slid 8% from $307,100 in March, 1990.
Sales of existing condominiums climbed 31% to 188 in March, from 144 in February; but 45% fewer condominiums were resold during March than a year earlier, when 341 changed hands.
The average resale price of a condominium rose 2% from February to March, reaching $146,100 from $143,000 a month before.
But the average price eased 7% from $156,500 in March, 1990.
The Valley realty board, the largest in California, reports housing sales by its members in the area from Agoura to North Hollywood.
MARCH VALLEY HOME SALES
NORTH WEST
* Avg. Price: $281,600
* Sales: 32
NORTH CENTRAL
* Avg. Price: $275,600
* Sales: 100
NORTH EAST
* Avg. Price: $177,800
* Sales: 86
SOUTH WEST
* Avg. Price: $301,400
* Sales: 133
SOUTH CENTRAL
* Avg. Price: $314,500
* Sales: 83
SOUTH EAST
* Avg. Price: $307,600
* Sales: 161
