INSIDE VALLEY BUSINESS : Foreclosure Boom

Usually when home sales rise, and the number of properties for sale shrinks, prices rise. Not so now in the San Fernando Valley. Prices have sunk to 1988 levels and are still dropping.

Why?

* A record 3,650 single-family houses and condominiums were foreclosed in the Valley last year-20 times higher than in 1990-as a result of the long recession.

* Bank repossessions were up another 38% in the first quarter, and are likely to keep climbing as owners of earthquake-damaged properties walk away from their homes.

Tough times for others have meant a boom for Ron Prechtl, left, a real estate agent at Century 21 Lamb Realtors in Northridge who specializes in selling foreclosed properties. Prechtl had his best year ever in 1993, selling about 140 houses, more than half foreclosures. He expects the new wave of foreclosures from the earthquake to keep him busy until at least the end of the next year.

See Valley Business, Page 10