SCV HOME SALES CLIMBING; EXPERTS SEE GROWTH REPLACING '80S BOOM.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer

Sales of new single-family homes rose by one-third in the first six months of 1997, compared with the same period a year ago, but experts see steady growth rather than a repeat of the housing boom of the late 1980s.

Developers sold 418 detached houses and 11 attached homes from January through June, compared with a total of 322 homes during the first half of 1996, according to a study by The Meyers Group, a marketing research company.

``I don't think we're quite at that state, but the Santa Clarita (Valley) has been coming back steadily for the last 2-1/2 to three years,'' said Bob Bray, managing director of the Los Angeles division of The Meyers Group. ``We're on the verge of a strong comeback.''

New housing prices dropped 20.5 percent for an average of $89,990 for condominiums, town houses and other attached units. Single-family home prices increased just 1.3 percent in the second quarter to an average of $235,990.

``The good news is that it's a really good time to buy a house,'' Bray said. ``Prices haven't gone up dramatically, but I think they will down the road. Also, there's a lot of product out there and interest rates are staying down.''

At Davidon Homes' Canyon Heights project in the Haskell Canyon area of Saugus, the sales staff is seeing 65 to 85 prospective buyers each week, said sales representative Jeanne Espinosa.

Davidon boasts five to six sales per month and an increase in recent weeks in serious and, more importantly, financially qualified buyers.

``We've definitely turned the corner and we're starting to see a real increase in business,'' Espinosa said.

Buyers, she said, are attracted to Davidon's four- to six-bedroom homes on larger-than-standard lots.

The Newhall Land and Farming Company, the Santa Clarita Valley's leading residential developer, is seeing strong sales in its higher end homes, said spokeswoman Carol Maglione. Newhall Land has 12 builders offering 13 sets of models in the northern Valencia area. The company sold 166 homes in the second quarter.

``There's been excellent activity in all the products, but we see a real emphasis on executive- and luxury-level homes,'' Maglione said.

And while most of the interest at Davidon comes from the immediate area, Newhall Land reports about 50 percent of its buyers come from outside the Santa Clarita Valley.

During the second quarter, the top-selling tracts were Newhall Land's The Willows in Valencia and S&S Construction's Cottage Glen in Saugus, having sold 26 homes each. The No. 2-selling project, with 18 units sold, was Greystone at Stevenson Ranch by Greystone Homes. Third was Pacific Homes' Pacific Grove in Saugus with 17 homes.

An abundance of model styles, affordable prices, low crime and good schools are the draws to the area, according to The Meyers Group's research.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Crews do roofing work Wednesday on new homes being built at the Canyon Heights development in Saugus.

(2--color) Jeanne Espinosa, left, of Davidon Homes talks to prospective buyer Barbara Donatella.

Terri Thuente/Daily News