Single-Family Home Median Sets Record

Propelled by a huge leap in August, single-family home prices in the San Fernando Valley hit a record annual median of $237,792 in 2000, marking three straight years that prices have risen by 10% or more, a real estate trade group reported Monday.

The 2000 annual median single-family home price--the price at which half of the homes sold for more and half for less--was up 12% (or $25,500) over the 1999 level and nearly 50% higher than the market low point of $160,441 hit during the doldrums of the mid-1990s.

The rise comes on the heels of an 11.7% increase in the median price in 1999 and a 14.6% hike in 1998.

“The past few years, it’s just been incredible,” said Wendy Furth, 2001 president of the Southland Regional Assn. of Realtors. “. . . We’ve come back incredibly strong,” since the decline, which she called a scary time.

“In just four years we’ve made up all of the ground lost to the recession of the 1990s, which was a very rapid recovery,” said Jim Link, executive vice president of the organization, in a statement.

The December median was $241,500, down $1,500 (less than 1%) from the November figure, but up 10% from December 1999.

In fact, each month during 2000 bested not only the comparable month in 1999, but also each comparable month going back to 1992 or earlier. And in August 2000, the median single-family price hit a record-busting $255,000--a gain of $100,000 over the modern-day low of $155,000, hit in November 1995.

The consistent year-to-year growth, local real estate experts said, shows that the region is in a sustained recovery and not just seeing a flash in the property pan.

But the rising prices, coupled with a limited supply, helped 2000 post a third straight annual drop in the number of single-family homes sold--12,421, down 3% from 1999. That was up 60% from the modern-day low of 7,774 hit in 1992. For the month, 986 homes changed hands, one more home than was sold in December 1999.

As single-family home sales in the Valley were dipping, condominiums saw a near record 4,536 annual sales, just shy of the 1989 high-water mark of 4,571 condo sales.

The strength of the condominium market, where the annual median price was $136,550, helped push combined sales for the region to 16,957, up only slightly from the 1999 combined tally of 16,798.

The annual condominium median price was up 10.5%, or $12,975, from the 1999 level, and the annual sales tally marked the sixth consecutive year of swelling condo sales.

For December, keys were exchanged for 391 condos in the Valley, up 7.7% from November, and up 26% from the year-ago period.

The median condo sale price for the month was $138,000, down 6.4% from November’s $147,500. The December median was up 14%, or $17,000, over the year-ago month.

Susan Weidman, an agent with Coldwell Banker, has been selling real estate in the Valley for about 12 years. She labeled 2000 a good year, made somewhat more difficult by the price hikes because “sellers feel that they can get anything they want.”

While the association predicts an 8% annual increase in prices for 2001, Weidman said she’s already seeing some consumers balk at the steeper price tags.

“If the economy does slow down,” she said “and people tighten their belts, they won’t be willing to pay the prices that the sellers are asking.

“Part of that, of course, is determined by the area in which you’re selling.”

For 2000, the southeast portion of the Valley, including the entertainment-heavy Studio City, Sherman Oaks and North Hollywood communities, was the sales leader, with nearly 3,000 single-family homes changing hands.

The most expensive property could be found in the southwest Valley, including Woodland Hills, West Hills and Winnetka, where the average home price in 2000 was $375,567. (The association does not track the median price by region.)

In the Santa Clarita Valley, home prices were also up year-over-year, but at a more modest growth rate than in the San Fernando Valley.

The annual median price of a single-family home in the Santa Clarita Valley was $242,975, up 6.1% from the 1999 level. That region saw price increases each month during 2000, compared with 1999.

And like the San Fernando Valley, the rising prices kept some buyers out of the market, as single-family home sales slipped by 10.3% for the year.

For December, sales were fairly flat compared with December 1999, but were up 12.9% compared with November.

The December median price of $249,000 was up 1.6% over the December 1999 figure and up 2.9% compared with November.

While homeowners may rejoice over equity regained, Realtors wonder aloud about the ability of the average prospective home buyer to keep up with the continuing price hikes.

“The affordability factor is limiting the pool of buyers that we have now,” said Furth, noting that “buy-ability” was a key topic at a recent meeting of the California Assn. of Realtors.

“It’s still very tough being a first-time home buyer, because these houses are appreciating so quickly.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Valley Home Prices, 1990-2000

For single-family homes

ANNUAL MEDIAN PRICES (In thousands)

*

1990: $231,358

2000: $237,792

Source: Southland Regional Assn. of Realtors