FEWER HOUSES SOLD, ALTHOUGH CONDO SALES UP : 10% DROP-OFF TYPICAL IN AUGUST.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer The housing market in the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. developed a split personality during September, with sales of single-family homes sagging nearly 18 percent while condominium condominium In modern property law, individual ownership of one dwelling unit within a multidwelling building. Unit owners have undivided ownership interest in the land and those portions of the building shared in common. sales jumped 25 percent, a trade group said on Monday. Last month, escrow closed on 217 homes, 47 fewer than in September 1998, said the Southland Regional Association of Realtors. Sales also declined 10 percent from August, a typical seasonal decline. The median price of a single-family home hit $224,900, up 7.1 percent. Nancy Starczyk, president of the Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, division of the Realtors group said the market remains strong. A September sales slowdown is not unusual because with children back in school parents are focusing their attention on matters other than house shopping. ``Do not even think for a second that the scramble for quality homes has ended. The competition for homes is still hot and with long lists of buyers waiting news of every new listing,'' she said. One leading market indicator - pending escrows - supports Starczyk's opinion. Sales expected to close escrow in the coming months increased 19 percent from the September 1998 figure. Other industry experts echoed Starczyk. ``The (Santa Clarita) Valley has so much going for it that I doubt that anything could derail de·rail intr. & tr.v. de·railed, de·rail·ing, de·rails 1. To run or cause to run off the rails. 2. or slow home sales for long,'' said Jim Link, executive vice president of the Realtors group. Nima Nattagh, an analyst at First American First American may refer to:
Santa Ana (sän'tä ä`nä), city (1993 pop. 129,873), W El Salvador. It is the second largest city in the country and the commercial and processing center for a sugarcane, coffee, and cattle region. , said September's dip is not cause for alarm. ``I wouldn't really read too much into that. But there are signs that perhaps sales are not going to increase as much as they have in the last couple of years,'' he said. The Santa Clarita Valley condominium market, meanwhile, remained strong. Escrow closed on 125 units during September, 25 more than for the year ago period and only one less than August. The median price, the point at which half the units sold for more and half for less, was $140,000, up nearly 9 percent from last year but unchanged from August. CAPTION(S): chart CHART: (color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour SAC) Cool Summer |
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