Home Sales Up, Prices Down in Simi-Moorpark

Sales of single-family houses in the Simi Valley-Moorpark area rose nearly 35% in December compared with the previous month, while prices dipped 2%, according to the Simi Valley-Moorpark Assn. of Realtors.

The group said 120 single-family houses were sold in December, up from 89 in November, and sales were up 19% from the 101 units sold in December, 1990. The average price for a single-family house in December was $236,749, down from $241,595 the previous month and $238,400 a year earlier.

Harvey Gandel, association president, attributed the year-end rise in sales to lower prices and lower interest rates.

For all of 1991, 1,462 single-family houses were sold in the area, an increase of 13.6% over 1990. The average sales price for the year was $238,283, a 2.2% drop from the prior year and the first annual decline in the association’s 26-year history, Gandel said.

Condominium sales, meanwhile, rose 40% to 18 units in December compared with 13 in November. Nineteen condominiums were sold in December, 1990.

The average sales price of condominiums was $131,527, down 6% from the previous month and 13% lower than $151,232 a year earlier.