Valley Housing Resale Prices Reach New High

The average resale price of a house in the San Fernando Valley inched up to another record of $311,900 in September, less than 1% higher than August’s previous record of $311,000, the San Fernando Board of Realtors said on Monday.

The latest figure marked an 18% rise from the $264,000 average resale price set in August, 1988.

September’s volume of house sales jumped 11% from August, reaching 1,025, compared to 923 in August. But the number of houses sold was still 28% lower than the previous September, when 1,413 houses were resold.

The average resale price of a condominium also was up by 1% in September to $151,800, from $150,200 in August. That was 14% higher than the September, 1988, average of $133,200.

Condominium resales climbed 38% to 408 in September, from 295 in August. About 7% fewer condominiums were resold last month than during the previous September, when there were 440 resales.

The combined number of houses and condominiums available for sale in the Valley hit a record high of 11,245 in September. But the total number of houses for sale edged up only slightly in the month, rising 1% to 9,397 from 9,276 in August. That still marked a 63% increase over September, 1988, when only about 5,763 houses were on the market.

The realty board said that the combination of rebounding sales and slowly rising prices indicated that the housing market in the Valley was finally moderating from the record sales pace and price appreciation of 1988.

In the first nine months of this year, for instance, the average house price has climbed about 11%, compared to a 27% rise for all of last year.

Although the number of houses sold was up 11% from August, the realty board’s vice president, Jim Link, said, “This is the kind of sales volume we’d expect to see in a normal year.”

Rates on standard, fixed-rate 30-year mortgages were largely unchanged during the month, with most banks and S&Ls; in the area offering house loans at about 10% to 11%.

The board also suggested the market was becoming more of a buyers’ market. “Last year, listings were scarce, yet buyers appeared overnight to fight over every listing,” said Buddy Bernard, the board’s president. “This year, listings are falling from the sky, while buyers are not nearly so abundant.”

The Valley realty board, California’s largest, reports sales of houses and condominiums by its members in the area from North Hollywood to Agoura. Its statistics do not include most new residences, which generally are not sold by real estate agents, or sales by homeowners who sell their homes without agents.

AUGUST VALLEY HOUSE SALES

NORTHEAST: Avg. Price: $178,600; Sales: 173 NORTH CENTRAL: Avg. Price: $326,200; Sales: 140 NORTHWEST: Avg. Price: $330,800; Sales: 42 SOUTHWEST: Avg. Price: $366,000; Sales: 222 SOUTH CENTRAL: Avg. Price: $325,600; Sales: 174 SOUTHEAST: Avg. Price: $333,300; Sales: 274