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The San Fernando Valley came to the end on the year with a sluggish housing market.  San Fernando Valley year-over-year home sales are down again from year ago levels, six months in a row.  This month’s units sold were down 19.0 percent over a year ago.  As expected there was a small, year-end surge in sales.  Sales in December 2010 were up 13.7 percent from the November 2010 level of 1202.  Monthly sales were up in December from November 2010 levels in all Valley areas except for the West Foothills.

                                                December 2010                  November 2010                  December 2009         
SFV Home Sales                               1367                                   1202                                   1687
12 month Change                            - 19.0%

The Valley’s December 2010 median price of a single-family, detached home was $403,000.  This is UP 0.8 percent since last Decembers’ median price of $400,000.  Since December 2009, Valley median prices have shown increases over prior year median prices ranging from 0.8 percent to 15.1 percent.  Despite the sales declines over the last half of 2010, housing prices are remaining stable.  Home prices throughout the Valley have reached a level that looks to persist, despite lackluster sales.

                                                December 2010                  November 2010                  December 2009          
SFV Median Price                          $403,000                             $400,000                              $400,000
12 month Change                              0.8%

Notices of Default (NODs) in December 2010, at 963, are DOWN 5.2 percent from December 2009.  This is the thirteenth sequential month of declines from the prior year’s numbers.  NODs peaked in March 2009 at 2539.  NODs remain highest in Pacoima and Olive View.
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                                                December 2010                  November 2010                  December 2009 
SFV NODs                                         963                                      995                                    1016     
12 month Change                            - 5.2%

December 2010 foreclosures were at 367.  This is DOWN 44.4 percent from the December 2009 level of 660.  Foreclosures peaked at 919 in June 2009.  Valley foreclosures are up 8.9 percent over the past month.  Some of the current decline may be the result of concerns over foreclosure processing as financial institutions move to modify their operations.  However, the foreclosure decline is in the range we expected and we continue to expect foreclosures to decline into the middle of 2011.

                                                December 2010                  November 2010                  December 2009
SFV Foreclosures                              367                                     337                                     660
12 month Change                           - 44.4%
LA County Foreclosures                     1,727                                   1,713                                  2,890           
12 month change                              - 40.2%

 

YEAR IN REVIEW NUMBERS

This past year did not show the recovery we expected in the housing market.  The first half of the year showed very positive signs of a growing recovery.  Sales over the first six months rose by 44.7 percent from a sales level of 1,167 in January 2010 to 1,689 per month in June 2010.  However, monthly sales started to decline in July 2010.  Sales in 2010 were 16,322 units.  This is down 2.1 percent from the 2009 sales level of 16,677. 
Valley foreclosures showed positive signs.  Foreclosures in 2009 totaled 6,788 and were down 19.3 percent in 2010 to a total of 5,477. 
                                                                            2010                                               2009
Annual Sales                                                       16,322                                             16,677
Annual Change                                                    - 2.1%
Annual Foreclosures                                              5,477                                              6,788
Annual Change                                                   - 19.3%

Foreclosures are down from the 7,730 in 2008.

                                                                            2010                                               2009
Median Home Price                                   $395,000 to $403,000                       $352,000 to $400,000
Average Median Price                                          $395,000                                         $373,000