Sales, Listings Jump in S.F. Valley in May : Market: Realty board reports May sales hot for homes costing under $300,000. Higher-priced homes going more slowly.

Sales of existing homes in the San Fernando Valley increased 5.1% in May, while homeowners continued to list their property for sale in record numbers, the Valley Board of Realtors reported last week.

The board reported a total of 1,221 sales of single-family homes and condominiums, up 59 sales from the 1,162 reported in April.

“The single-most important factor influencing sales activity is affordability,” said Becky Roberts, president of California’s largest local board of realtors. “Sales remain hot for properties priced under $300,000. The higher you go from that figure, the softer the market gets.”

That means people are still clamoring to get into housing, Roberts said, but it also means there are limits on how much prospective buyers will pay, especially when the selection of homes for sale is the largest in the history of the board.

More than 3,952 owners listed their property for sale during May, up 16.2% from a year ago and up 13.9% from April.

The San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors reported a record 13,561 active listings, an increase of 8.5% from April and up 56% from the 8,695 active listings of May, 1989.

Even as an unprecedented buyers’ market has emerged, the price of properties sold during May remained high, although signs of softening in prices have begun to turn up in recent months.

The average price of single-family homes sold last month was $306,400, up 6.6% from a year ago and up 1.1% over the April average. The condo average resale price was $153,100, down 0.2% from last year and up 2.8% from April.

“I expect prices to continue moving up, but at today’s much slower rate,” said Jim Link, the board’s executive vice president. “Remember, from 1988 through 1989, monthly increases in the average price of 20% and 25% were normal. Those days are gone.”

Link cautioned owners not to base the asking price of their home on monthly averages, but to do a careful analysis of their property compared to other properties currently on the market.

“With so much to choose from, buyers are being extremely selective,” Link said. “Some buyers can walk over the threshold and tell instantly that a home is overpriced. If you really want to sell--especially if you’re asking more than $300,000--you better be realistic in your pricing and ready to negotiate.”

The market today is comparable, Link said, to the market of 1986 and 1987, the more normal years before the boom. The only major difference is that condominium sales and lower-priced single-family homes lead the market. In 1987, single-family homes grabbed most of the sales while condos lagged behind.

“That’s further evidence that if prices on homes were more affordable, especially in the trade-up price ranges, there would be more sales,” Link said.

Of the 1,221 sales last month, 882 were single-family homes and 339 condominiums.

Fully 65% of the single-family home sales were priced under $300,000. The most popular price range was from $200,000 to $250,000, which represented 22.3% of the total, board statistics indicated.

Sales dropped off with each step up the price category, Link said: 75 homes sold at a price between $300,000 and $350,000; 64 from $350,000 to $400,000; 40 sales from $400,000 to $450,000; 23 sales from $450,000 to $500,000; 71 sales from $500,000 to $800,000; and only 32 sales of homes priced over $750,000.

The same trend was even more evident for condominiums. Nearly 99% of all condos sold last month went for under $300,000. There were only five sales at a price over that figure.

The most popular price range for condos was from $120,000 to $140,000, a price range that captured nearly 23% of all condo sales.