San Fernando Valley home sales climb 82% as prices fall
Sales of existing single-family houses climbed 82% in the San Fernando Valley in September as median prices fell by 37% from year-earlier levels, the Southland Regional Assn. of Realtors reported last week.
Median prices paid for single-family homes fell to $392,500, down from $425,000 in August and $623,700 a year earlier. Median prices in the Valley have now rolled back to July 2003 levels.
Realtors in the area believe the jump in sales is the beginning of a recovery for housing. "Recovery of the local housing market is underway," said Mary Funk, president of the Realtors group. "Every time a foreclosed home finds a new owner or a buyer expresses confidence by buying a home from a traditional seller, we move a step closer to resolving the housing crisis and returning to some level of normalcy."
Home building slows drastically
Permits for new single- family homes were down 53% for the first nine months of this year compared with the same period a year earlier, the California Building Industry Assn. said last week. It's no surprise home building is drying up along with demand for new houses, said CBIA chief economist Alan Nevin. But he calls himself "disheartened" by the likelihood that fewer than 40,000 single-family permits will be pulled this year, which he called "a modern low for the state."
Nevin said the glut of foreclosed properties in California meant there were many homes now for sale at prices less than the construction cost of a new house.
-- Peter Y. Hong
More Palmdale prices sinking
Median sale prices in the most distressed neighborhoods of Los Angeles County have fallen below $100,000, according to MDA DataQuick's report on September home sales.
In the 93591 ZIP Code in Palmdale, the median sale price for a single-family home fell to $91,000 in September, with price per square foot hitting $69. Here's a typical listing in that area: 17800 Highacres Ave., a three-bedroom, one-bath home that sold in 2006 for $260,000 and is now in foreclosure and listed for $74,900. That's a potential decline of 71%.
I count 20 listings on Redfin.com in that ZIP that are now priced below $100,000, and 66 sub-$100K listings in all of Palmdale.
The lowest prices by neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles are in Watts, where the median price for a single-family home has fallen to $162,000.
-- Peter Viles
