Homes sold for record-high prices in the San Fernando Valley during the month of June, according to a new report from the Southland Regional Association of Realtors. FTOM CURBED LA)
The median sale price for single-family homes was $722,000—nearly $15,000 higher than the previous record of $708,000, set last year. Condominium prices also reached an all-time high of $455,000 during the month.
“I’ve had multiple offers on everything I’ve sold this year,” says a local Sherman Oaks Realtor.
It’s not just the Valley. Prices across Los Angeles are crawling upward. The county’s median sale price tied an all-time record in May, according to real estate tracker CoreLogic. Sale numbers from June will be released later this month.
Perhaps because of those high prices, June also saw an unusually low number of sales in the Valley. Only 487 houses and 158 condos changed hands during the month; both numbers were the lowest recorded during the month since 1984, when the Realtors association began tracking sales.
“Prices have risen to a point where affordability issues combined with limited availability constrain buyer choices,” the group’s president, Dan Tresierras, said in a statement.
Tresierras points out that relatively low mortgage interest rates may be inspiring home shoppers to hit the market, but that there aren’t many options for them to choose from once they start looking around. Only 1,352 homes and condos were listed for sale during the month of June, down slightly from the same time last year and far below the level of inventory typically available in the Valley.
Still, buyer interest remains strong, in spite of high price tags.
“As long as they’re priced right, homes in the southern Valley are still selling like crazy,” say local realtors.
With buyers persisting in their home searches for the time being, prices will likely continue to rise for the limited number of homes available for purchase, says Southland association CEO Tim Johnson.
“Lower interest rates help buyers get more house for their dollars,” he says. “Yet it also brings out more prospective buyers, which translates into additional upward pressure on prices.”
WRITTEN BY ELIJAH CHILAND FOR CURBED LA
