Single-Family Home Sales in Valley Take Surprise Leap

Local realtors were cautiously talking of a turnaround in the San Fernando Valley’s sluggish housing market after January statistics showed an unexpected jolt in single-family home sales.

A total of 721 single-family homes closed escrow in the Valley last month, 13% above the year-earlier figure and the highest figure for any January in five years. Moreover, single-family-home prices, which have been sinking relentlessly, were down only by less than 1% from a year ago. And the average condominium price rose after a long downward trend.

“We want to be a little guarded. . . . We did have some false starts before,” said Jim Link, executive vice president of the San Fernando Valley Assn. of Realtors, the agency that collects data on home sales.

“But I can tell you, Realtors I’ve talked to feel activity in the marketplace now is definitely stronger than it has been in some time.”

The number of single-family homes that closed escrow was still far off the numbers typical of the housing boom of the late 1980s, when 1,000 or more transactions per month were normal.

And a strong January doesn’t necessarily augur a full-fledged rebound. January 1995 also saw a strong uptick in sales, but the trend quickly fizzled, and the year ended with the market in a steep decline.

However, the recent January sales figures for single-family homes--the highest since the 780 sold in January 1990--marked the first sign of better business for the residential real estate market in several months.

The average price of a single-family home in January was $219,200, down 1% from $221,100 a year earlier, and up 2% from December’s average price of $216,000.

The median price, the price at which half the homes sold for more and half for less, also remained nearly flat at $164,000 compared to last year’s January median of $165,000.

Condominiums reflected similar trends. A total of 196 condominiums closed escrow in January, up 65% from 119 in January last year, but down 12.5% from 224 in December.

The average price of a condominium was $112,000, up 7% from January a year ago, and the median condominium price was $110,111, up 18% from a year ago.

Link wasn’t certain why home sales were stronger in January but said that perhaps it is a sign of general improvement in the area’s economy. “This is not to say we think 1996 will be a boom year,” he said.

“But we think there is hopefully enough optimism in the job market now that people who have been reluctant to get into a home are beginning to get off the fence.”

The San Fernando Realtors’ group, the largest in the state, reports housing sales monthly from its 6,800 members from North Hollywood to Calabasas.