Optimism Dips Along With Home Sales, Prices

Realtors were “surprised and disappointed” by a sharp dip in San Fernando Valley real estate sales in January, said Mel Wilson, president of the San Fernando Valley Assn. of Realtors.

The 20% drop in the number of single-family homes sold in the first month of 1997 was accompanied by a 13% drop in median prices, reflecting the slowest January in three years.

January is always a slow month for home sales. But Wilson said January’s results were unexpectedly dim given the optimism with which Realtors greeted 1997, a year that many predicted would signal the end of the long price slump that started with the regional recession of the early 1990s.

A total of 579 homes closed escrow in the Valley in January, down from 721 in the same month last year, according to the monthly report compiled by the association.

The Realtors said that January’s median price of a Valley single-family home--the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less--was $143,000, down from $164,000 in January 1996.

However, the January price was slightly higher than December’s median of $138,500.

The average price of a single-family home went up 4% to $228,900 from $219,000 in the corresponding month a year ago. It was also 8% higher than December’s average of $212,700. Many real estate experts consider the median price a more realistic measure of the market’s middle ground.

Although the number of condominiums that changed hands in January was actually higher than last year, prices continued their perplexing slide.

A total of 211 condominiums closed escrow in January, up 8% from 196 in January last year, but the median price of $83,000 was 25% lower than last year’s median of $110,111. It was also 6% lower than December’s median condo price of $88,000.

Average prices of condos also took a dive. January’s average price of $96,500 was 14% lower than the year-ago average of $112,000 and 5% lower than the December average of $101,600.

The Realtors association compiles sales statistics monthly based on resale reports from its 6,200 members from North Hollywood to Calabasas.