NEW-HOME SALES SLIP IN VALLEY : FORECLOSED HOUSES, OTHER AREAS COMPETE FOR BUYERS.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer Facing competition from 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, and from foreclosed homes, sales of new tract homes in the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley slumped 25 percent during the last three months compared with the same period last year, a real estate analyst said Thursday. Antelope Valley builders sold 344 new homes during a three-month period starting in late February - down from 460 new homes in the same period of 1995, 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 Meyers Group, a Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. firm that tracks real estate. New-home sales for the period fell by 41 percent from 1994 levels. ``We were hoping we would have a strong first quarter with the interest rates being low,'' said Bob Bray, market analyst with The Meyers Group. ``It's disappointing to see another poor quarter.'' When the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, real estate market sagged, home prices fell in Santa Clarita, making the area more affordable for commuters who must travel farther to jobs if they buy homes in the Antelope Valley, Bray said. ``We need pricing to increase in the Santa Clarita and 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. markets,'' Bray said. ``In Santa Clarita, you get a smaller lot or a town house, but you don't have the drive time.'' Antelope Valley's new-home market also is facing competition from foreclosed homes, whose numbers surged in recent years in the Antelope Valley. There were 3,031 foreclosures in 1995 and 3,068 - a record - in 1994, according to statistics compiled by TRW TRW The Real World (TV reality show) TRW The Right Way TRW Tactical Reconnaissance Wing TRW The Retriever Weekly (University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD) TRW Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc REDI Property Data, a real estate tracking firm in Yorba Linda. Antelope Valley foreclosures dropped 5.8 percent in the first three months of 1996 from levels in the same period of 1995. It is not known, however, whether part of that decline can be attributed to lenders cooperating - rather than foreclosing - with reduced-price sales to new buyers. The good news is the inventory of new homes dropped 31.9 percent in the past three months compared to the previous quarter, analysts say. There are 241 new tract homes in the inventory, according to The Meyers Group statistics. ``The inventory of new homes is healthy, about a two-months supply,'' Bray said. ``It's definitely not an oversupplied market.'' |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion