Condo sales increase as housing prices rise, inventory falls

New homes are under construction in a new development off of Lost Canyon Road in Canyon Country. Katharine Lotze/The Signal
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Condominium sales have increased in the Santa Clarita Valley as the high median prices and low inventory of single-family homes have pushed buyers out of the market, the Southland Regional Association of Realtors reported in a press release Tuesday.

During the month of October, 101 condominiums changed ownership within the valley – up 6.3 percent from 2016 and 5.2 percent from September 2017.

The success of the condominium market, however, came vis-a-vis that of the traditional single-family home market.

195 of these homes were sold in October, down 3.9 percent from one year ago and 10.2 percent since September 2017.

“In addition to the ill-effects of today’s very tight inventory, the tax reform proposals coming out of Washington, D.C., which appear to be very bad for housing in California and other high-cost states, may make some sellers and buyers hesitate, putting another damper on the market,” said Marty Kovacs, chairman of the Santa Clarita Valley Division of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors.

This hesitation is manifest in October’s single-family home listings – at 480 units, inventory is down 16.8 percent from 2016.

“Santa Clarita has seen 12 consecutive months with the active inventory lower than the prior year, though most of the months since February 2016 have posted negative numbers,” the association’s press release read.

This decrease in available housing, the association said, has lead to a subsequent increase in the market value of homes currently on the market.

The median price of homes sold in the Santa Clarita Valley during the month of October was $580,000 – 5.8 percent more expensive than last year’s median value of approximately $546,360.

Although pricey, median home prices remain roughly 10 percent lower than the valley’s all time high of $643,000 set at the height of the housing bubble in April 2006.

Despite high housing costs, only 0.3 percent of October’s 296 residential sales were foreclosures.

Standard sales totaled 97 percent of the October market, during which time 287 transactions occurred.

 

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