FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY SOARS SALES FALL VALLEY AREA ACTIVITY MAY BE SLOWING DOWN.Byline: GREGORY J. WILCOXStaff Writer NORTHRIDGE -- Foreclosures in the Greater San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. jumped an annual 571percent in September and sales sank to the lowest level in 19 years as the residential real estate market's free fall intensified in·ten·si·fy v. in·ten·si·fied, in·ten·si·fy·ing, in·ten·si·fies v.tr. 1. To make intense or more intense: , a research center said Monday. Last month, 302 home and 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. owners from Glendale to Calabasas lost their properties because they could not make the mortgage payment, up from 289 in August, said the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center. A year ago, just 45 properties were lost to foreclosure foreclosure Legal proceeding by which a borrower's rights to a mortgaged property may be extinguished if the borrower fails to live up to the obligations agreed to in the loan contract. . For all of the third quarter, 854 homes were foreclosed on, the center said. Foreclosures peaked at 1,854 in the third quarter of 1996. The center's records date back to 1988. "If there is any good news in this report, it's maybe that the rate of foreclosures is starting to slow down," said CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge professor Daniel Blake, the center's director. He bases this on the fact that notices of default, the first part of the foreclosure process, dropped to 874 in September from 1,035 in August. But they did increase 152.6percent from a year ago, indicating that the foreclosure problem won't soon abate abate v. to do away with a problem, such as a public or private nuisance or some structure built contrary to public policy. This can include dikes which illegally direct water onto a neighbors property, high volume noise from a rock band or a factory, an improvement . Blake also said it will take several more months to see whether default notices continue to trend down. While some foreclosed properties are selling at about 20percent under the most-recent purchase price for the property, they have not yet pounded down home values like they did in the mid- mid- pref. Middle: midbrain. 1990s. "Out inventory is increasing but we're not getting flooded with foreclosures," said Jim Link, executive vice president of the Van Nuys-based Southland south·land or South·land n. A region in the south of a country or an area. south  land·er n.Noun 1. Regional Association of Realtors. He said the association's September numbers for the Valley area from Toluca Lake to Calabasas will mirror the research center's report. Sales of new and previously owned houses and condos plunged 54.3percent to 760 transactions in September. That is the lowest number of sales in the center's database. "I think sellers are holding off the market because they don't have to sell now and I think the advice some of the buyers are getting is sit back if you can because there might be some better deals coming on the market," Blake said. Despite the sales slide, the median price did inch up an annual 0.8percent, to $620,000. greg.wilcox@dailynews.com (818) 713-3743 |
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