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San Fernando Valley year-over-year home sales continue a twenty month sequence of increases over the prior year.  April 2010 units sold was up only 3.4 percent over a year ago. This is the smallest year-over-year increase we have seen since September 2008. The 5.4% decline from the March 2010 level is probably just housing market noise.  However, it does call attention to the skittish nature of our housing recovery.  Sales were up slightly from March to April 2010 in the north sections of the Valley and down slightly in all other sections.

                                                   April 2010                  March 2010                  April 2009   
SFV Home Sales                            1389                            1468                            1343
12 month Change                            3.4%

The Valley’s April 2010 median price of a single-family, detached home was $380,000.  This is UP 5.6 percent since last April’s median price of $360,000.  The lowest median price since March 2003 was $347,500 in March 2009.  Median prices fell 5.0 percent between March 2010 and April 2010.  Such month-to-month fluctuations are expected.  Median price changes throughout the Valley are mixed.  Median prices are up slightly in the northeast Valley and the Burbank/Glendale areas and are down slightly in all other areas. 

                                                   April 2010                  March 2010                  April 2009      
SFV Median Price                        $380,000                     $400,000                      $360,000
12 month Change                            5.6%

Notices of Default (NODs) in April 2010, at 1011, are DOWN 52.8 percent from April 2009.  This is the fifth sequential month of declines from the prior year’s numbers.  This sequence of continuing declines in NODs may signal the coming of decreases in foreclosures.  NODs peaked over a year ago, March 2009, at 2539.  Since then, with some fluctuations, there has been a general downward trend in NODs.  As has been the case with foreclosures, NODs continue to be highest in Pacoima and Olive View.    

                                                   April 2010                  March 2010                  April 2009   
SFV NODs                                        1011                           1291                           2410      
12 month Change                           - 52.8%

April 2010 foreclosures, at 567, are UP 57.9 percent from the April 2009 level. Valley foreclosures appear to have stabilized.  About a year ago, it appears that financial institutions delayed foreclosures pending the outcome of policy discussions in Sacramento around the California Foreclosure Prevention Act.  The past two months have shown foreclosure increases each of about 12 percent. This may indicate that financial institutions are working through their backlog.  Valley foreclosures have declined dramatically from our peak of 919 in June 2009.  The largest foreclosure areas continue to be Pacoima and Olive View.  The housing market seems to have settled into an activity level that can be sustained. We expect foreclosures to continue at about this level into the summer.

                                                   April 2010                  March 2010                  April 2009   
SFV Foreclosures                             567                             507                             359     
12 month Change                           57.9%