Home prices in San Fernando Valley hit 9-year high

A house in the San Fernando Valley (credit: Mike Sowell Agency)
A house in the San Fernando Valley (credit: Mike Sowell Agency)

Prices in the Valley have hit a new peak.

Prices for previously owned single-family homes in the San Fernando Valley hit a nine-year high last month, with the median price hitting $610,000, according to a report by the Southland Regional Association of Realtors cited by the L.A. Daily News.. That price growth is thanks in part to low inventory and growing demand for homes.

Since last April, the median price has increased by 10 percent, or $55,000, according to the realtors’ association, which is based in Van Nuys. But prices are still slightly below the all-time record of $655,000, set in June 2007. Condos also saw an increase in price, albeit a smaller one. The median price grew 3 percent from last year to $359,000, but declined $23,000 from March.

“What’s happening here in the Valley mirrors experiences in many parts of California,” Jim Link, the Association’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “It does not mean it’s a bad market. It’s just the new reality, with fewer choices and higher prices making it more difficult to purchase a home.”

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In this competitive market environment, in which multiple offers are common, buyers are pressured to put down larger down payments and make faster decisions, Link added.

There were 1,434 condos and houses at the end of April, down 1,543 from 2015, Southland Regional found. That marks a 2.1-month supply for the sales pace, or about four months short of what experts deem a balanced market supply.

The strained inventory may have something to do with empty-nesters refusing to sell and downgrade, the realty association’s president Gina Uzunyan said in a statement.

Sales of new homes, however, are growing across the country. The volume of sales nationwide has grown 17 percent since March — the fastest increase in nearly 10 years. [LADN]Cathaleen Chen