Home, Condo Sales Increase in April

In April, condominiums in the Santa Clarita Valley saw hot activity with sharp jumps in prices and sales, according to the Southland Regional Association of Realtors. Median prices for condominiums shot up 20 percent to $348,000 compared to the same year-ago period. Despite the large jump in price, the number of sales also soared 28.3 percent to 118. Compare that to single-family homes, which experienced only a 7.6 percent increase in the median price to $538,200. Closings fell 7.4 percent. The number of single-family homes and condominiums on the market in the Santa Clarita Valley saw a sharp, 17.3 percent drop to 507 from a year ago. Prices for San Fernando Valley homes continued to rise in April amid shrinking inventory and sales activity, according to the association. San Fernando Valley single-family homes reached their highest median price last month since 2007 at $610,000, rising 9.9 percent from a year ago. The number of closings, however, dropped 5.3 percent to 514. Valley condominiums saw a slight 2.6 percent uptick in median price to $359,000. Closing activity fell 8.8 percent to 165 deals, compared to a year ago. The number of single-family homes and condominiums on the market last month in the Valley fell 7.1 percent to 1,434, or a roughly two-month inventory. The association tied the tight inventory to a lack of down-sizing by empty nesters and heftier down payments required by lenders.