Median Sales Price for a Home in Valley Declines to $187,000 : Real estate: October price for single-family structures drops 11%, down $23,000 from 1992. But low interest rates continue to lure new buyers.

House sellers took it on the chin again in October, with the median sales price of a single-family home falling $23,000, or 11%, from a year earlier to $187,000, the San Fernando Valley Assn. of Realtors reported Monday.

The “median price” means half the houses sold last month for less than $187,000 and half sold for more than that amount.

Less dramatic, the average resale price of a single-family house fell 5% in October to $249,700, its lowest level since 1987, when the average was $211,100. However, last month’s average price was up slightly from the $244,100 average reported in September.

Lower prices, coupled with low interest rates, continued to lure new buyers into the market last month. Combined sales of existing houses and condominiums rose 17% over the same period a year earlier.

A total of 822 single-family houses in the Valley changed hands in October, up 28% from the 642 houses reported sold in the same month a year ago. The increase marked the seventh consecutive month that single-family house sales have risen over the same period a year before.

The October figure climbed 6% from the 774 single-family houses sold in September, indicating that sales for all of 1993 will be ahead of 1992 sales, said Alice McCain, president of the San Fernando Valley Assn. of Realtors.

“Realtors are very optimistic that single-family home sales will be even stronger in 1994,” she said.

However, a 16% decline in the Valley’s inventory of unsold houses and condominiums “indicates that today’s buyers’ market is beginning to wane,” said Jim Link, the realty association’s executive vice president, although part of the decrease is seasonal.

Realtors reported that 11,382 properties were for sale at the end of October, compared with 13,509 a year ago. Of the total reported last month, 8,959 were single-family homes and 2,423 were condominiums.

Condominium sales continued to nose-dive, with October sales down 22% from the same month last year. Resales of condominiums totaled 132 in October, the lowest monthly tally since 1985.

“First-time buyers are opting for single-family homes,” Link said. “Condos used to be the only way to get into the market.”

Last month, the average condominium resale price of $130,900 was only slightly higher than the average of $127,017 for all of 1988. In October, 1992, the average resale price of condominiums was $152,000.

In all, 954 houses and condominiums closed escrow last month. That contrasted with 812 in October, 1992, and 924 in September.

October Valley House Sales North West: Avg. Price: $262,100 Sales: 42 North Central: Avg. Price: $239,500 Sales: 136 North East: Avg. Price: $147,300 Sales: 121 South West: Avg. Price: $290,041 Sales: 255 South Central: Avg. Price: $262,800 Sales: 92 South East: Avg. Price: $259,800 Sales: 176