Residential Sales Slump Deepens : Real estate: Although 10% more houses were sold last month than a year ago, the rise was more than offset by a 37% plunge for condos.
The local housing market continued its decline in April, with sales of single-family houses and condominiums in the San Fernando Valley posting their fourth consecutive monthly drop compared to a year earlier.
The San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors said that 917 houses and condominiums changed hands last month, 2% fewer than in April, 1992, when 939 units were sold. That means that combined housing sales for the first four months of 1993 were 8% lower than a 1992 pace that itself was dismal.
For all of last year, only 9,805 residential properties sold in the Valley, and it marked the first time in a decade that a full year’s sales fell below 10,000.
Housing prices also continued their downward slide in April. The combined average price of single-family and multifamily dwellings sold during the month was $240,600, down 7% from the $260,000 average of a year earlier. The median price--at which half the homes sold for less and half sold for more--also declined 7%, to $188,000 in April, compared to a year earlier.
In March, the average price was $245,000 and the median price was $190,000.
One bright spot in April, however, was that single-family house sales posted a strong increase over a year-earlier. A total of 762 single-family houses sold last month, up 10% from the 692 sold in April, 1992. Sales of detached houses were also 23% higher than in March of this year, when 622 units were sold.
The average price of a single-family house sold in April was $260,000, a 13% decrease from April, 1992. The median price fell 10% last month to $204,000.
Condominium sales have suffered as first-time buyers take advantage of falling house prices and low mortgage interest rates by buying single-family houses. Continuing a downward trend, condo sales plunged 37% last month, to 155, compared to April, 1992 when 247 condos were sold.
Last month’s condo sales were up 36% from March’s desultory total of 114 condo sales.
Condominiums sold last month for an average price of $144,900, 6% less than the $154,800 average a year before. The median price last month was $130,000, off 10% from April, 1992.
“With so many properties to chose from, buyers are quick to dismiss homes with inflated, unrealistic asking prices, sometimes without even seeing them firsthand,” said board President Alice McCain. “Properly priced homes sell. Overpriced properties see little activity and usually languish until the listing expires.”
April’s combined house and condo sales were 20% higher than in March, 1992, when 736 were sold.
A glimmer of improvement was also seen last month in the inventory of houses and condos listed for sale but still unsold, which dwindled to 12,531 from 13,653 in April, 1992. New listings also tapered off to 3,082 from 3,135.
Still, the inventory level remains high. At April’s sales pace, the current stockpile would take nearly 14 months to deplete.
The Valley realty board, the largest in California, reports housing sales by its 7,900 members in the area from North Hollywood to Calabasas.
Its figures do not include sales of most new residences.
April Valley House Sales NORTH WEST Avg. Price: $236,900 Sales: 32 SOUTH WEST Avg. Price: $307,300 Sales: 220 NORTH CENTRAL Avg. Price: $249,900 Sales: 127 SOUTH CENTRAL Avg. Price: $300,300 Sales: 103 NORTH EAST Avg. Price: $159,400 Sales: 121 SOUTH EAST Avg. Price: $257,700 Sales: 159
