Sales Gain Seen for Valley Homes

The San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors reported that escrows closed on 622 single-family homes and 114 condominiums during March, a jump of nearly 44% over February, but still well below the sales pace a year ago.

The number of sales pending at the end of March, 924, suggest growing consumer confidence, said Lon Adams, board president. Pending sales have increased in each of the last four months.

The pending sales reported in March were 4% higher than the 890 pending sales reported in March, 1992, said Jim Link, the board’s executive vice president.

“This is yet another strong indicator that the resale market is on the rebound,” Link said.

Resale prices for single-family homes fell 2.9% from a year ago, and condo prices were off 4.8%, although both categories showed modest price gains over figures reported in February, primarily because of increase resale activity, Link said. The average resale price of single-family homes for the first three months of 1993 was $258,433.