Santa Clarita ValleyInventory of Homes Listed for SaleRises to Highest Level in 21 MonthsThe inventory of homes listed for sale during June in the Santa Clarita Valley rose to the highest level since September 2016, yet even with the increase in supply, sales remained lackluster and resale prices continued to rise, the Southland Regional Association of Realtors reported Monday. A total of 278 single-family homes changed owners last month, a drop of 9.4 percent from a year ago that saw 307 sales, which was the highest monthly total reported since the economic recovery began. Following seasonal patterns, June sales were up 23 percent over May.

Realtors also helped close escrow on 103 condominiums. That was down 13.4 percent from June 2017 and off 1.9 percent from May.

“Owners see prices at or near record levels, they see interest rates rising, and they realize that this truly would be a great time to list their property for sale,” said M. Dean Vincent, chairman of the Santa Clarita Valley Divi-sion of the 10,300-member Southland Regional Association of Realtors.

“Yet even further small increases in the active inventory would be

unable to satisfy pent-up demand for housing,” Vincent said. “Now we have higher interest rates, with more rate hikes on the way, heightening affordability concerns, which already limit the pool of prospective buyers.”

The median price of single-family homes sold during June was $610,000, up 4.1 percent from a year ago, but off 0.8 percent from the $615,000 median reported in May, which was the highest monthly median since economic recovery began. While most of the

records set last decade have been broken, the local home median price record of $643,000 in April 2006 has yet to fall.

The condominiums sold in June had a median price of $390,000, up 5.4 percent from 12 months ago, yet 3.5 percent below May’s median of $404,000. The record high condominium median of $410,000 was set this April,

The combined inventory of 605 active listings was the highest monthly tally since September 2016 and only the second month

since February 2015 to post a year-to-year increase. Despite the increase, the inventory represents a mere 1.6-month supply at the current pace of sales. An ideal supply would closer to a 5-month or 6-month supply.

After flirting with the record low supply of 312 listings in Decem-ber, the inventory has been trending higher, largely following seasonal trends.

San Fernando Valley

Sales Slow, Condo Price Sets Record

By Gary Washburn, President, and David Walker Southland Regional Association of Realtors®

The median price of condomini-ums sold during June rose to a record high while home and condominiums sales slumped throughout the San Fernando Valley, the Southland Regional Association of Realtors report-ed Monday.

A total of 571 homes changed owners during June, down 3.9 percent from June 2017. Fol-lowing seasonal patterns, the total was up 14.9 percent from this May.

Realtors also helped close escrow on 188 condominium

transactions. That was down 26.8 percent from a year ago and un-changed from May.

“May and June sales took a hit in part because of the hike in mid-April of interest rates jumping to

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‘Even a modest increase in inventory is welcome news’

Realtor® Gary Washburn, 2018 SRAR President

M. Dean Vincent, Chairman, Santa Clarita Valley Division

2006 2,4562007 2,320 -5.5%2008 1,840 -20.7%2009 891 -51.6%2010 1,021 14.6%2011 1,116 9.3%2012 544 -51.3%2013 428 -21.3%2014 706 65.0%2015 688 -2.5%2016 599 -12.9%2017 528 -11.9%2018 605 14.6%

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

2006 2009 2011 2013 2016 2018

SantaClaritaValleyTotalActiveListings—June2006to2018

Source:SouthlandRegionalAssociationofREALTORS®

Southland Regional Association of Realtors

7/12/18

Monthly Single-Family Sales: 1984-20182018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994

Jan. 341 377 337 307 349 393 388 499 494 518 323 569 582 851 840 884 903 682 705 721 825 579 721 638 634Feb. 309 321 322 345 320 381 380 385 458 480 358 528 610 811 850 786 861 670 789 704 789 659 626 559 513March 458 478 470 537 414 498 502 544 594 640 416 770 961 1,127 1,172 1,142 1,192 1,058 1,116 1,087 1,124 882 925 812 684April 473 476 514 543 546 560 512 548 644 691 547 447 926 1,138 1,154 1,259 1,310 1,031 1,113 1,208 1,222 963 987 841 987May 497 556 521 563 522 604 567 501 679 708 669 629 856 1,142 1,126 1,284 1,302 1,247 1,150 1,131 1,283 1,068 995 953 1,127June 571 594 612 576 525 544 524 562 649 775 671 690 919 1,240 1,161 1,205 1,321 1,263 1,171 1,258 1,315 1,003 985 945 1,125July 486 542 603 562 524 589 522 589 745 717 617 809 1,203 1,210 1,273 1,212 1,222 1,051 1,306 1,316 1,111 936 941 1,060Aug. 631 545 577 478 561 578 618 539 670 666 552 825 1,230 1,207 1,316 1,278 1,321 1,204 1,131 1,207 1,070 940 1,008 972Sept. 542 562 582 491 504 505 541 581 684 658 362 814 1,182 1,135 1,238 1,097 1,122 1,142 1,229 1,096 1,084 859 727 937Oct. 506 485 523 494 521 635 523 532 663 745 354 771 998 1,190 1,198 1,195 1,013 962 1,054 1,038 1,027 815 785 880Nov. 480 457 458 420 468 558 511 470 582 633 355 753 972 1,086 1,105 1,085 889 1,032 1,044 1,012 947 858 781 908Dec. 475 496 494 522 506 595 581 586 637 691 398 806 892 1,152 1,188 1,107 983 986 985 1,015 1,152 872 785 983

Total 2649 5,922 5,863 6,108 5,643 6,064 6,333 6,335 6,815 7,793 7,094 6,271 9,632 12,786 13,283 13,878 13,863 12,501 12,421 12,858 13,242 11,545 10,519 9,775 10,8101.0% -4.0% 8.2% -6.9% -4.2% 0.0% -7.0% -12.5% 9.9% 13.1% -34.9% -24.7% -3.7% -4.3% 0.1% 10.9% 0.6% -3.4% -2.9% 14.7% 9.8% 7.6% -9.6% 21.5%

* June 2011 total revised due to city code error in conversion to Matrix Bold: Record High

Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 2018 341 309 458 473 497 571 2017 377 321 478 476 556 594 486 631 542 506 480 475 2016 337 322 470 514 521 612 542 545 562 485 457 496 2015 307 345 537 543 563 576 603 577 582 523 458 494

0

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200

300

400

500

600

700

SanFernandoValley—Single-FamilyHomeSalesJune Home Sales Down 4% from 2017

Source:SouthlandRegionalAssociationofREALTORS® High 1,648 – Sept. 1988 Low 307 – Jan. 2015

the highest level since 2014,” said Gary Washburn, president of the 10,300-member Southland Regional Association of Realtors.

“No doubt higher rates and rising prices create affordability issues for many prospec-tive buyers, and that hinders sales,” he said. “Yet the true culprit is the lack of inventory.

Even with modest increases in active listings, there’s still no where near enough properties available to meet demand.”

The association reported 1,368 ac-tive listings at the end of June. That was the highest number so far this year, a 2.5 percent improvement over June 2017, and the second consecutive monthly increase after 39 months of consecutive year-to-year declines.

That’s good news, though the total of homes and condo-miniums listed for sale still represented

a mere 1.8-month supply at the cur-rent pace of sales. A market the size of the San Fernando Valley ideally would have a five- to six-month

supply.“Even a modest increase in

inventory is welcome news,” said Tim Johnson, the Association’s chief executive officer. “Yet, so long as in-ventory stays tight, we’ll see upward pressure on resale prices. Buyers refusing to pay increased prices may prompt home sellers to limit price hikes, which could offset some of the upward pressure on prices created by a limited supply.”

The median price of homes that closed escrow during June came in at $691,000, up 8.0 percent from a year ago. The median was down 2.4 percent from the $708,000 record high median set in May.

The condominium median price hit a record of $438,000. That was up 4.3 percent from June 2017 and 4.3 percent higher than this May. It beat the prior record of $435,000 reported in April.The Southland Regional Association of Real-tors® is a local trade association with more than 10,300 members serving the San Fer-nando and Santa Clarita Valleys. SRAR is one of the largest local associations in the nation.