HOME SALES NAIL RECORD SCV BOOM APPEARS FAR FROM OVER.

Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - For sale? Sold!

So the story goes in the Santa Clarita Valley, where home sales hit record highs for a fourth consecutive year.

More homes sold for higher prices than ever before in 2003, according to a report released Thursday, and real estate experts believe the trend will continue for as long as houses are available in the region.

``Every year we think the local market could not possibly get any busier,'' said Doreen Chastain, the 2004 president of the association's Santa Clarita Valley Division. ``But demand for local housing is insatiable. Many more homes would have been sold, if only we had a larger inventory.''

The median price of a single-family home in the Santa Clarita Valley was $376,600 in 2003, up 20 percent from 2002 when the median price was $312,900.

And in December, the median price of a new home rose to a surprising $413,500, more than $10,000 higher than the usually record-setting summer months.

December's record numbers indicate that the current boom is far from over.

``It is highly possibly that this trend will continue through 2004. The demand for housing is not going to go away or subside to any great degree - not in the foreseeable future,'' said Jim Link, executive vice president of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors.

The 2003 housing boom fits into a seven-year trend of elevated home sales in Santa Clarita that has seen the median value of homes more than double.

In 1997, the median price of a home was about $180,000, and since then the median has risen at a steady clip of about 10 percent until 2002, when the median price jumped 17 percent. And in 2003, the median increased by an additional 20 percent.

Similarly, the number of homes sold in the valley have climbed every year since 2000, with 2003 marking a record year by more than 15 percent.

The pace of condominium sales is equally feverish.

Median condo prices have been on the rise since 1997 as well.

Between 1997 and 2003, the median price of a Santa Clarita condo has more than doubled, peaking at $237,200 in 2003. That is nearly 30 percent higher than the 2002 median value of $185,100.

The number of condos sold was also at a record high this year, with 1,852 changing hands in 2003. In 1998, 912 condos were sold.

``I just don't see a stop to this. I don't think they can build as fast as the demand, so I think the 2004 resale market is going to be even bigger than 2003,'' said Frank Jares, a lender for Covenant Mutual Mortgage in Santa Clarita. ``And the loan rates are excellent right now.''

While the big numbers are exciting for those in the real estate market, they may foreshadow future problems, according to Link. If median prices get too high, many first-time homeowners could get cut out of the process because they can't afford to buy.

``Housing is a progressive ladder. You buy your first house and build some equity, and then as your needs and desires change, you move into a larger house. If there is nothing available to start out, then it will be increasingly difficult for people to sell at the higher end,'' Link said.

This problem applies to the entire state, where the median cost of a new home is about $386,800 - a price that is too costly for 75 percent of the households in California, according to the California Association of Realtors.

``There has to be a concern on all levels within the real estate industry and government to take a look at the housing stock in Southern California and statewide and start coming up with some creative ways to increase the supply of houses,'' Link said. ``In zoning, planning and developing, we have to make sure that there's an opportunity for all levels of income to purchase a home.''

l=8Nicholas Grudin, [phone]

nicholas.grudin(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 charts

Photo:

(color) Real estate agent Tacie Jares stands in front of one listing on Kipling Place in Santa Clarita, where sales have been going through the roof.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

Chart:

(1 -- 2) HOMES SURGE

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