Single-Family House Sales in May Continue Modest Rebound
The area’s housing market extended its modest rebound in May, as resales of detached single-family houses climbed 16% from April and were up 13% from a year ago, according to figures released Monday by the San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors.
But the condominium market was less robust, as condominium resales inched up 1% from April and dropped 7% from May of last year.
The figures overall underscored how local housing activity, despite picking up a bit this spring following a year of generally lower sales, still pales compared with the strong growth it enjoyed in the late-1980s.
“The market is on the way up, but it is at an extremely sensitive stage,” Steve Owen, the board’s president, said in a statement. “Any significant increase in interest rates or in asking prices by sellers could drive prospective buyers away and stop the recovery cold.”
Indeed, prices began creeping up last month, although they were little changed from a year ago.
The average price of an existing single-family house sold in May was $299,200, up 5% from $285,900 the previous month, but down 2% from $306,400 a year earlier. The median price in May was $240,000, up 7% from April and a 2% increase from May, 1990. The median means half the houses sold for more than that sum, and half sold for less.
The average resale price of a condominium last month was $153,900, up 4% from April and up 1% from a year earlier, and the median price was $144,000, up 3% from April and a 2% increase from a year ago.
The board said 1,000 single-family houses were resold last month, contrasted with 865 in April and 882 a year ago. Resales of condominiums totaled 317 in May, contrasted with 313 the previous month and 339 in May, 1990.
But for the second straight month, the combined number of single-family houses and condominium sales in escrow at the end of May--1,029--trailed the 1,317 properties that actually sold during the month. That could signal that sales will slow in the months ahead as those deals in escrow are completed.
The Valley realty board, the largest in California, reports housing sales by its members in the area from Agoura to North Hollywood. Its statistics do not include sales of most newly built residences.
May Valley Home Sales Northwest: Avg. Price; $308,800; Sales: 44 North Central: Avg. Price: $284,500; Sales: 157 North East: Avg. Price: $177,500; Sales: 163 South West: Avg. Price: $338,600; Sales: 259 South Central: Avg. Price: $314,300; Sales: 133 South East: Avg. Price: $338,100; Sales: 244
