WADE DANIELS Staff Reporter After rising steadily for the past year, the San Fernando Valley’s average home sale price dipped in May compared to April. The $241,282 average sale price in May represents a 1.1 percent decline from the previous month. Nonetheless, it is a 13.6 percent rise over May 1997, said Nima Nattaugh, director of research for Experian, an Anaheim-based real estate information service. Nattaugh said she isn’t very concerned about the decline, because home sale prices can be skewed in any given month by the value of the homes put up for sale. A more accurate indicator is the repeat sales index, which is based on the resale value of a select group of houses and reflects their current value compared to what it was in 1990. Under that index, home prices rose 2.5 percent from April to May, said Nattaugh, who expects the trend to continue. “Based on the broader economic indicators, the housing market will continue to improve throughout the year,” Nattaugh said. “It may not be as buoyant as in 1997, but it will improve still.” Coupled with the month-to-month rise in the index is a drop in the number of foreclosures in the Valley. There were 98 foreclosures in May compared to 120 in April. The May rate of foreclosures is 83.3 percent below what it was the same month a year earlier, when there were 584 instances. Market analysts have attributed the improved employment picture to the decline in foreclosures.