HOME-SALES MARKET EXPECTED TO STAY STEADY THIS YEAR.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS

Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- The home sales market is returning to normal, not generating spectacular profits but staying solid, real estate experts said.

Sales of single-family homes in the Santa Clarita Valley were up 11.7 percent in January compared with a year ago. The month saw escrows close on 172 houses, compared with 154 in January 2006.

The market is expected to be steady in the year ahead.

"It's not going to be like it was the last two or three years, where we were seeing huge numbers of sales and huge price increases," said Larry Gasinski, president of the Santa Clarita Valley division of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors Inc.

In January, the median price of a single-family home in the valley went down to $587,900, compared to $620,000 a year ago, a 5.2 percent decrease, according to the association.

The median price of a condominium was $360,000 in January, the association stated. In January 2006 it was 9.3 percent higher, at $397,000.

There were 73 condominium sales last month, compared with 82 in January 2006, a difference of 11 percent.

Unlike in recent months, sellers are less likely to dip their toes in the market and pick up the for-sale sign if they cannot get their asking price, said Pam Ingram, with Remax of Santa Clarita.

"I think the market has definitely picked back up," Ingram said. "I don't see that prices are going up a lot, but they're also not going down. I've seen prices level off, but the buyers are back out buying. It looks like it's going to be a good year."

There is more than a seven-month inventory of homes on the market, while about a six-month inventory is considered a balanced market.

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(color) Sales of single-family homes in the Santa Clarita Valley were up 11.7 percent in January compared with a year ago. The month saw escrows close on 172 houses, compared with 154 in January 2006.

David Crane/Staff Photographer