Department Name

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY HOUSING REPORT FOR JULY 2012
San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
William W. Roberts, Ph.D., Director 818-677-4582

San Fernando Valley year-over-year home sales are up again. July’s units sold were 1,398 units.  This is up 9.1 percent over July 2011 sales of 1,281 units.  Six out of past seven months have show sales increases over the prior year’s level.  The one month sales declined (March 2012), they were down 0.1 percent.  Sales did decline from the June 2012 level of 1,577 by 11.4 percent.  However, sales generally decline from June to July.  Since 2000, the average sales decline from June to July has been 5.3 percent.  Sales are up in all seven Valley areas we track. The largest year-over-year increase was 20.8 percent in the Central Valley.

                                                    July 2012                      June 2012                      July 2011           
SFV Home Sales                             1,398                            1,577                             1,281
12 month Change                             9.1%

The Valley’s July 2012 median price of a single-family, detached home was $400,000.  This is UP 6.7 percent from the median price of $375,000 in July 2011.  Valley median home prices peaked at $660,000 in May 2007.  Since then, the lowest median price level we observed was $347,500 in March 2009.  
The July 2012 median price of $400,000 is the highest median price we have seen since $405,000 in December 2010.  The year 2010 was a year of significant stimulus spending.  Median prices appear to be on a slow rise over the past six months.  The only Valley area having a median year-over-year price decline was a 6.0 percent decline in Burbank & Glendale (where sales were up 15.2%).

                                                   July 2012                      June 2012                      July 2011     
SFV Median Price                       $400,000                        $390,500                        $375,000
12 month Change                             6.7%

Notices of Default (NODs) in July 2012, at 877, are UP 28.8 percent from July 2011.    NODs peaked in March 2009 at 2,539 and have trended down since then.  NODs continue to remain highest in Olive View and Pacoima.  NODs have generally trended down since August 2010 and have hovered between 600 and 1,000 for the past nine months.

                                                    July 2012                      April 2012                      July 2011           
SFV NODs                                        877                                 867                               681     
12 month Change                            28.8%

July 2012 foreclosures were 226.  This is DOWN 45.3 percent from the July 2011 level of 413.  This is our seventh sequential month of substantial declines from the prior year’s level.   Foreclosures were 919 in June 2009 and 922 in August 2008.  Foreclosures are highest in Olive View and Pacoima.  We expect foreclosures to continue around 200 per month for the rest of the year.  The good news is that foreclosures no long drive our housing market.

                                                    July 2012                      June 2012                      July 2011
SFV Foreclosures                             226                                 238                               413
12 month Change                           -45.3%
LA County Foreclosures                    1,123                              1,184                             2,059    
12 month change                             -45.5%