May Sales of Houses, Condos Drop : Real estate: Curfew and travel limits during the riots are blamed for the 4% decrease in Valley activity since April and the 32% slide from 1991.
Sales of existing single-family houses and condominiums in the Valley in May fell 4% from April and were off 32% from a year ago, declines that the San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors attributed largely to the Los Angeles riots.
“May started on an extremely optimistic note,” said Lorrie Griffey, president of the realty board, which reported the sales Monday. “But that ground to a halt due to the riots,” noting that the citywide curfew and travel restrictions in early May slowed real estate resale activity for at least five days.
The board said a total of 901 single-family houses and condominiums were sold last month, compared with 939 in April and 1,317 reported in May, 1991.
Meanwhile, the inventory of unsold houses and condominiums last month rose 4% to 14,161 properties--the third highest supply in the board’s history.
Jim Link, the board’s executive vice president, said the large inventory, along with declining interest rates and lower property prices, should spur sales in the summer. But he said the increase would nonetheless be “slow and steady.”
“There’s a lot of business in refinancing, which tells me people are staying where they’re at,” said Jerry Brower, vice president at EFM Mortgage Bankers in Burbank. And because many people who want to sell their homes have given up, Brower said, “buyers aren’t in the marketplace.”
In May, there were 701 sales of existing single-family houses, up 1% from April and down 30% from a year ago.
The average resale price for a single-family house last month was $285,100, down 4% from April. The median price for single-family houses was $220,000 in May, compared with $227,000 in April and $240,000 in May, 1991. (The median price means that half the homes sold for more $220,000 and half sold for less.)
Resales of condominiums totaled 200 last month, down 19% from April and a drop of 37% from May, 1991. The average price for a condominium in May was $151,600, down 2% from $154,800 in April. The median condominium sales price held steady last month at $145,000.
“As prices continue to fall on single-family housing, we’re seeing more first-time buyers opt for a single-family house instead of a condominium,” Link said.
The Valley realty board, the largest in California, reports housing sales by its 8,000 members in the area from Agoura to North Hollywood. Its statistics do not include sales of most new residences.
May Valley House Sales North West: Avg. Price: $281,300 Sales: 33 North Central: Avg. Price: $269,800 Sales: 106 North East: Avg. Price: $172,300 Sales: 90 South West: Avg. Price: $315,400 Sales: 229 South Central: Avg. Price: $323,900 Sales: 105 South East: Avg. Price: $291,600 Sales: 138
