Home Resales Rise 17% in April; Prices Stabilize

The number of single-family homes resold in the San Fernando Valley jumped by 17% in April compared with a year ago, and prices, though still in a slump, seemed to stabilize.

A total of 987 single-family home escrows closed in April compared with 841 in the same month last year. April’s total was also a 7% jump over the March figure of 925.

The average price of a single-family home was $225,500, a 4% edge over last year’s April average of $216,400, and the same average price as last month. However, the median price, the price at which half the homes sold for more and half for less, was $159,000, down 7% from a year ago, and up very slightly from March’s median.

Overall brisk sales of homes for the first four months of 1996 sent officials with the San Fernando Valley Assn. of Realtors rhapsodizing about good times ahead for the Valley’s troubled housing market.

This year has seen “a much, much healthier resale housing market than in any year in recent memory,” said John Marquar, president of the association.

Condominium sales meanwhile continued to boom: A total of 264 condominiums were resold in the Valley in April, 64% more than April 1995 and 6% more than the 249 that sold in March.

The average price of a condominium in April was $102,600, down 7% from $110,600 in the same month last year, but up from March’s average price of $99,800. The median price was $94,000, down 11% from $105,500 last year, but up 12% from March’s median of $84,000.