Southland Home Sales Up Slightly; Prices Stable
Southern California’s housing market continued to show signs of a slow but steady recovery last month as home sales rose slightly compared with year-ago levels and prices were stable, according to figures released Thursday.
Sales of all homes--new and used, houses and condominiums--rose to 17,443, a 2.7% increase over September 1995, according to DataQuick Information Systems, a La Jolla-based real estate research firm.
The median sales price for the region--which includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties--crept up 0.6% in September to $162,000.
Results varied by county: Los Angeles, for example, saw September sales decline 1.5% and the median price unchanged at $162,000.
In Riverside County, however, sales jumped 13.6% and the median price climbed 6.5% to $131,000. Ventura County suffered a 1.3% decline in sales as well as a 1% drop in price to $190,000.
The September results are in line with previous monthly reports that indicate the real estate market overall has stabilized and is slowly emerging from a deep and prolonged slump, industry observers say.
Regional home sales during the first nine months of the year are up 17.2% from the same period last last year, which was marred by a weaker-than-expected housing market. The median sales price rose 0.6% during the period to $161,000, according to DataQuick.
The regional real estate market has benefited from a pent-up demand for housing, an improved job market and attractive mortgage rates, said Esmail Adibi, director of the Center for Economic Research at Chapman University in Orange.
Prices remain under pressure as the inventory of homes for sale continues to grow, he said.
Overall, however, “home prices are stabilizing” and the six-county region can expect prices to rise about 1% on average this year over last, Adibi said.
In Irvine, real estate agent Jeanne LaFourcade has seen a gradual improvement in sales and prices over the last couple of months. “We are not setting the world on fire, but we are doing much better than last year,” she said.
In Los Angeles, real estate sales manager Varo Gabriel said sales have been running about 10% ahead of last year and that several homes have sold above their asking prices after rival buyers got into bidding wars.
Varo warned that many homes still fail to attract high enough prices to pay off existing mortgages. “People still can’t afford to sell,” he said.
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Home Sales
September home sales rose from the same month last year, in thousands:
1996: 17.4
Note: Includes Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.
Source: DataQuick
