CONDOS SEND MARKET SOARING.

Byline: Jason Takenouchi Staff Writer

A hot condominium market pushed Valley housing sales in June to their highest monthly total in the 1990s, a Realtors group reported Monday.

Realtors sold 1,258 single-family homes, 57 fewer than in June 1998, but condo sales sizzled, gaining 30 percent to 401, according to the Southland Regional Association of Realtors. Both the condo sales and the combined sales figures hit record highs for the decade.

A strong economy and low mortgage rates are driving much of the current boom.

``People are more confident in their jobs, and the economy is good,'' said Paul Sauder, owner of 5 Star Realty Inc. in Northridge. ``It's a little easier to price property right now because we have more buyers in the marketplace.''

The median price for single-family, resale homes - the point at which half the homes sell for more and half for less - rose to $215,000 in June, according to the report.

That price is $7,000, or 3.4 percent, more than June 1998, but it also is the smallest year-to-year increase since April 1997 and it comes on the heels of a 17 percent year-to-year increase in May of this year.

At the current pace, homes should recover their pre-recession values by late this year or early next year, said John Karevoll, an analyst with Acxiom/DataQuick, a La Jolla-based real estate research firm.

``Prices will continue to go up at a moderate pace,'' he said. ``It's sustainable. It's not lurching toward a cliff.''

But while the current market is characterized by a short supply and high demand - similar to conditions during the previous boom - analysts say it is far different from the market that busted in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

``Prices are going up at a reasonable rate now,'' said Jim Link, executive vice president of the Southland Realtors association. ``The overpriced properties or properties in poor condition are not selling.''

Ten years ago, in June 1989, the median single-family home price was $245,000, a 27.3 percent increase over the same month in 1988, according to association records. Throughout the boom, annual increases in excess of 20 percent were commonplace.

``It's good out there, but it's not frenzied,'' said Karevoll, the Acxiom/DataQuick analyst.

``We're seeing people being very prudent about the way they purchase and finance their homes,'' he said. ``The indications that they're stretching their finances are not there now.''

Those indicators include loan-to-value ratios and the use of adjustable rate mortgages, which are easier to get than fixed rate ones, Karevoll said. Both measures are well within comfort levels, he said.

Although single-family home prices inched up only a few percentage points last month, the cumulative growth in prices could be fueling the resurgence of the condo market.

``The silver lining of the recession was that it put homes in the range of first-time buyers and moderate-income buyers,'' Link said.

Now, he said, single-family homes might be out of the reach of those buyers.

Karevoll agreed.

When single-family home prices fell, he said, many buyers bypassed the condo market, the traditional haven for first-time buyers.

``As prices come back up, its not so easy to bypass the condo market,'' he said. ``Condos are regaining their normal position.''

New listings for condominiums in June rose 50.8 percent over the same month last year, the association said. The median condominium price was $127,000, a 1.2 percent increase over June 1998.

CAPTION(S):

2 charts

Chart: (1) San Fernando Valley single-family home sales

(2) Condo sales