HOME SALES DOWN 35 PERCENT EXPERTS SAY DECLINE IS RETURN TO NORMAL.Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer 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, -- Home sales were down 35 percent last month compared with September 2005 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. , mirroring a nationwide decline in the housing market. But local real estate experts painted the decline as a return to normal market conditions, a needed adjustment to the torrid sellers' market of recent years. ``When the market was so crazy, it was hard for people to buy -- because there were multiple offers and they had to make a decision on the spot,'' said Peggy Mueller, president of the Santa Clarita division of the 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. ``And now they can at least have more choices.'' Last month saw 218 single-family homes change hands, a decline of nearly 34 percent from the year before and the first time in three years that sales were below the 300 mark for September, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the association. The median price for single-family homes fell 1.6 percent, from $594,500 to $584,900. 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 fell 37 percent, with 109 sales compared with 173 for the previous year, according to the association. But in one positive trend, the median price of condos increased 1.3 percent, from $379,900 to $385,000. Combined home sales were down 35 percent, going from 503 in September 2005 to 327 last month. Realtor Pam Ingram, with Remax of Santa Clarita, said more homes are on the market, giving buyers an advantage. ``They're looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. the good deals and they're asking for below what the sellers are asking for,'' she said. As a result, sellers need to declutter their properties to make them look like model homes, Ingram said. But real estate experts said they don't expect prices to fall sharply, unless interest rates spike A burst of extra voltage in a power line that lasts only a few nanoseconds. See power surge, power swell, sag and surge suppression. (jargon) spike - To defeat a selection mechanism by introducing a (sometimes temporary) device that forces a specific result. or the economy falters. ``I think it's a normal market right now,'' Mueller said. ``We have a little more inventory than we'd like, but it's not that bad.'' Even with the drop in the median price of single-family homes, it was the second-highest median price reported for the month of September. A record-high price of $643,000 was set in April. alex.dobuzinskis@dailynews.com (661) 257-5253 |
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