Median Price for New Home Up 33% From Last Year

The median price for a new single-family home in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys soared 33.3% during the second quarter of 1999 compared with year-ago figures, an industry group reported Tuesday.

The median price for a new house now stands at $329,990, according to the Meyers Group real estate consulting firm. That compared with a $247,450 median price for the second quarter of 1998. The group defined the second quarter as mid-March through mid-June.

Condo prices advanced 24%, with the median rising to $190,990--up from $153,990 in the second quarter of 1998.

The Meyers Group said limited supply contributed to the sharp increase in price, and a 28.1% decline in the number of new houses and condos sold, to 574.

“The supply is the tightest in the Santa Clarita Valley, where the demand for new homes is the strongest,” Bob Bray, national marketing director with the Meyers Group, said in a statement. “Home builders are having trouble keeping ahead of the demand.”