In an article which appeared this month in the Los Angeles Daily News, staff writer Gregory J. Wilcox shared his opinion that the San Fernando Valley housing market will certainly improve as summer approaches: “With all of the March housing reports out now, the theme is set for the summer buying season. Prices will rise, a critical shortage of inventory will continue to constrain sales and foreclosure activity will keep falling.”
Among the positive signs in the San Fernando Valley, Wilcox points out:
- At the end of last month, Realtors had just 1,015 properties listed for sale in the Valley, the second-lowest total on record and barely above the record low of 995 listings last December. It’s a 1.5 month supply at the current sales pace.
- The median resale house price rose 13.6 percent from a year ago to $430,000. That is the highest median since $435,000 in July 2008, the association said. The median price increased $8,000 from February.
- Home sales were basically flat, 498 in March versus 502 a year ago. But they jumped 30.7 percent from 381 in February, typical for this time of year.
- Of the homes sold last month, 9.9 percent, or 69 properties, were foreclosures.
- March’s median price was 26.8 percent above the Great Recession low of $339,000 in December of 2011. But it was 34.4 percent under the $655,000 record in June of 20017.
- The condominium market took a different track last month. During March sales increased 20.1 percent to 197 units from 164 a year earlier and 20.9 percent from 163 in February.
- The condo median price rose 22.2 percent to $281,000 from $230,000 a year earlier and it increased 8.1 percent from $260,000 in February.
Another positive sign, noted by Jim Link, CEO of the Van Nuys-based Southland Regional Association of Realtors, (which tracks the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys is this: “Another encouraging sign is that the number of homeowners ‘underwater,’ or owing more on their mortgage than the property is worth, is declining.
“The latest stats I’ve seen is we’re down to about 20 to 22 percent of homeowners in our area (who) are still underwater,” Link said. “Now, that’s a big improvement over the 60-some percent of 18 months ago.”Good news for the Greater LA Basin is generally a positive sign for outlying areas such as the Southern California High Desert—as market conditions in the city tend to trickle down to more rural locations.
Mesa Property Management realtor Beau Cooper explains: “When the housing market in LA improves, we start to see a similar recovery in the towns we service such as Hesperia, Adelanto, Apple Valley, Victorville, Barstow, Phelan, Oak Hills and Spring Valley Lake.”
Cooper and his associates at Mesa Property Management maintain that, currently, there are still great deals to be found in the High Desert, where inventory remains high and prices are reasonable. “While you can’t usually find houses for sale under $100,000 in LA County, investors can still find affordable investment properties in the High Desert. But move now, because this will not always be the case.”
No matter the market conditions, to wisely invest in rental properties, you should hire a professional property management firm that can help you seamlessly navigate home-buying, rehabilitation, renovation and rental. Whatever property management company you choose, verify personnel are experienced in locating ideal tenants who pay on time, take care of your investment and leave your property in great condition.
The right property manager will also be able to find you additional properties, handle new purchases, direct rehab, manage repairs, keep you well informed and handle all communications with your tenants. At Mesa Property Management, we do all of this and more…taking the pain out of property management.
