A SPECIAL REPORT: THE HOUSING MARKET

BOTTOM OUT: Are house prices finally stabilizing? March’s average price for single-family homes resold in the Valley was $225,500, about the same as a year ago and a 7% increase from February, above. . . . But San Fernando Valley Assn. of Realtors President John Maquar warns that buyers are still very choosy, and “this is not a time to overprice your property.”

EMPTY HOUSES: Real estate specialists say the housing market recovery has a long way to go. At least 40% of the properties on the market in the Valley are owned by banks through foreclosure, says Roger Hance, president of R.R. Gable Inc., a real estate firm in Northridge. That gives owner-occupied houses for sale an advantage, because they look better to buyers. But banks are motivated sellers, Hance said, so they lower prices to unload properties quickly. . . . “It’s a real good test of market value.”

MOVING OUT: With so many foreclosures due to job loss, and people moving out of the area for economic reasons, the number of move-up buyers has fallen dramatically. . . . In the ‘80s, says Hance, about two-thirds of the homeowners who put their houses on the market planned to buy another house locally. Now, he estimates, that ratio is down to about 25%. “It’s probably the single biggest reason for the home sales decline” of the past several years.

MOVING UP: But the move-up market may at last be showing signs of life. Sales of houses priced above $400,000, in the dumps since the early ‘90s, jumped more than 40% in March--a sign that “consumer confidence is improving,” said Jim Link, the realty association’s executive vice president.

CONDO COMEBACK: Another unlikely bright spot in the realty group’s resales report was condominium sales, which shrugged off their dismal pace of the past several years. . . . A total of 249 condominiums changed hands in the Valley in March, up 58% from a year earlier and the most in a single month in five years.

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Home Prices

Average resale prices for single-family houses in the San Fernando Valley

March ‘96: $225,500

February ‘96: $210,900

January ‘96: $219,200

December ‘95: $216,600

November ‘95: $210,100

October ‘95: $225,300

Source: San Fernando Valley Assn. of Realtors