A.V. NEW-HOME SALES IN DECLINE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

New tract-home sales in the Antelope Valley are off from last year's totals, and experts say the situation isn't going to change drastically until home prices start heating up in the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys.

Antelope Valley tract-home builders sold 221 new units in September, October and November, an increase of 22.7 percent from sales during the three summer months.

However, the year-to-date total of 705 is down 12.2 percent from last year and down 33 percent from 1995, according to a report by The Meyers Group, a real estate consulting firm based in Santa Monica.

Reductions in housing prices elsewhere in Los Angeles County, especially in the Santa Clarita Valley, have increased affordability there for people who work in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, cutting into the housing market in the Antelope Valley, analysts said.

``It's not going to change until Santa Clarita (prices) start to jump,'' said Bob Bray, an analyst with The Meyers Group.

The region also was hurt by negative publicity about social issues, notably hate crimes, Bray said.

In the Antelope Valley, 28 housing tracts have homes on the market, a marked decline since its peak of 170 projects in 1991. The median selling price of a new home dropped 3.3 percent to $118,990. The median price per square foot dropped from $64 to $63, the report said.

Aware of the beating Antelope Valley home sales and prices have taken this decade, area officials are looking to put together an economic development budget that would include spending about $50,000 to $75,000 a year on image and reputation management. That effort would include monitoring economic development events for items of interest to news media, creating a repository of information about local companies and organizing resource panels and experts to comment on news stories.

``We think that there are positive stories to be told. Unfortunately, they don't get told,'' said Vern Lawson, executive director of the Lancaster Economic Development Corp. He thinks new-home sales will get a boost from companies moving into the area, such as Senior Systems Technology, which is moving to Palmdale and bringing as many as 500 jobs.

``We think the home sales are tied to economic prosperity,'' Lawson said. ``We expect that to turn around in '98.''

Affecting new-home sales are the valley's record number of foreclosures. There were 2,130 recorded in the Antelope Valley during the first half of the year, a jump of 29 percent compared with the same period in 1996, according to Experian, a real estate tracking firm based in Yorba Linda.

In all, there were 3,643 Antelope Valley property foreclosures in 1996 - the most since Experian began tracking the area's foreclosures in 1988.

PRICE CHECK

September, October, November Antelope Valley tract-home sales, median price

1997 221 $118,990

1996 216 $122,990

1995 293 $127,990

1994 468 $127,990

1993 532 $129,990

1992 668 $129,990

1991 811 $155,990

CAPTION(S):

chart

Chart: Price Check (see text)