HOUSING INVENTORY SOARS MARKET GETTING A BIT MORE BUYER-FRIENDLY.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox  Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS - The San Fernando Valley's hot residential market appears to be getting more buyer-friendly this summer with inventory nearly tripling from March's record low, price increases moderating and properties talking longer to sell, industry officials reported Thursday.

Statistics from the Van Nuys-based Southland Regional Association of Realtors showed:

--At the end of last month, 4,356 houses and condominiums were listed for sale, 2.9 times more that the 1,492 properties on the market at the end March.

--During July, 2,777 new properties came on the Realtors' Multiple Listing Service, down slightly from 2,975 in June but still a solid number.

--Homes that sold in July averaged 41 days on the market, up from 25 days in March and 29 days a year ago in July 2003.

It all adds up to more competition among sellers, which could give some breathing room to buyers faced with a record median price of $505,000 in June, the first time a typical Valley home broke the half- million-dollar barrier.

``I think it's more of a gradual turn. I don't think it's the bubble bursting or any number of terms used over the past few months,'' said Jim Link, the association's executive vice president.

``The market is still strong relative to a normal market, but relative to the market several months ago it has slowed down.''

Analysts and industry officials are not expecting a market bubble to form and burst as it did in the early 1990s.

The Valley's supply gain looks big in percentage terms but it is moving off a low number.

March's inventory equaled about a month's worth of inventory at the current sales pace. Now it is between a two-month to three-month supply.

For the Valley, a five- to six-month supply is considered necessary for the market to be balanced. And when the market did crash in the early 1990s, the monthly inventory had swelled to more than 13,000 properties.

``It is still a very low number but it is building and I guess the best way to put it is, it's gone from a critically low number to a low number,'' Link said.

The number of multiple offers have decreased, too, as have transactions called sold before processing. This which refer to listings taken by an agent and sold before being listed on the MLS.

And the record median price, the point at which half the units sell for more and half for less, is prompting some buyers to test the market.

That's sort of what Jenna and David Thornsberry did by listing their 1,661-square-foot, two-story Cape Cod-style house in the 6400 block of Penfield Avenue in Woodland Hills for $579,999.

They've owned the house, which they love, for a couple of years. But they have a new baby and would like to move to a home with a family room. Jenna Thornsberry is a real estate agent for the John Aaroe Division of Prudential California Realty, so she knows the market.

And she knows the house is priced at the top of their neighborhood.

``We've priced it high and if we don't get a good price, we don't have to move,'' she said. ``The market is definitely shifting, it's leveling off a little bit.''

But it hasn't made a big shift to favor buyers.

Brad Roth, an agent at Pinnacle Estate Properties in Chatsworth, said sellers are still reaping nice rewards if they are not getting greedy. He has five listings in Chatsworth and on Wednesday sold three other properties.

``The problem is when sellers are pricing their homes higher than the comps in the neighborhood. Then homes are sitting on the market,'' he said.

Gregory J. Wilcox, [phone]

greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com