Appraised Value of Survey Homes Rises 9.3% in Year

Appraised values of specific existing homes in the seven-county Southland area increased 9.3% to $163,000 from April, 1986 to April, 1987, and 5.1% since last October, according to the Real Estate Research Council of Southern California.

The figures are based on tracking 214 selected single-family detached houses, some since 1943. The houses have been appraised every six months in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and represent the average of the market prices of the houses in the sample, according to Michael Carney, executive director of the Pomona-based research organization.

The figures do not represent the average price of all houses in each community, nor the average price of houses actually sold, he said.

The market price index for the seven-county area reached 352 in April (1975=100), up from 335 last October and 322 in April, 1986, according to the report released at the council’s meeting at Cal Poly Pomona.

The largest increases were in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, up 12% to 14% from a year ago. The smallest were in Riverside and San Diego counties, up 6% to 8% from a year ago. The city of Santa Barbara registered the largest increase in appraised values, 21.7% from April, 1986, to last April, Carney said. Other large increases were recorded in Pasadena, the Westside of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and northern Orange County.

Appraised values increased for 165 (77%) of the sample houses and fell for 25 (12%) of the sample.

Los Angeles County had the highest average price in April, $191,500, followed by Ventura/Santa Barbara counties, $156,200; Orange County, $154,500; San Diego County, $152,000, and Riverside/San Bernardino counties, $107,600.