You’d think sluggish existing home sales activity would benefit a market’s inventory, but in the San Fernando Valley that’s not the case.
During the first two months of this year 652 existing single-family homes sold in the valley, a slight decline from the 659 homes that traded during the same period last year.
However, entering March the market’s total inventory (single-family homes and condos) was down year-over-year by 6.7 percent with 2.8 months of supply, according to stats from the Southland Regional Association of Realtors (SRAR).
Eyeing only single-family supply, the number of active listings dropped on a year-over-year basis by 7.6 percent in February, despite sales activity dipping by 6.7 percent.
Year-over-year new listings activity fell 7.4 percent last month.
According to Jim Link, CEO of SRAR, while a six-month supply is desired, a more realistic target for the San Fernando Valley is four months of inventory.
Similar to the previous two months, March is shaping up to be another period of “sluggish” resale activity. Entering the month, the volume of total pending escrows was down by nearly 11 percent year-over-year.
Gina Uzunyan, SRAR’s 2016 president, remains positive and expects resale activity to perk up in the coming months, primarily because of low interest rates.
However, more buyers in the valley are reportedly balking when they hit a certain price point. This being the case, continued price appreciation won’t bode well for overall sales activity.
“We’ll see single-digit increases replace the double-digit gains in the median prices, even if the inventory stays tight and competition stays heavy,” Link said.
San Fernando Valley home prices still rising
In February the median price of an existing single-family home reached sat at $561,000, the highest price seen in any February dating back to 2007.
This February’s price equated to a nearly 7 percent ($36,000) year-over-year gain in values.
The average price in the valley was significantly higher at nearly $770,000. Spanning the past year, the average price of a home has skyrocketed by nearly 18 percent ($116,000).
Of better news to potential buyers, the median and average prices did drop in February by 1.4 percent and 1.6 percent,respectively, on a month-over-month basis.
