Robust Pace for Home Sales May Be Over

Homeowners across Southern California prospered from strong gains in property values this summer, according to a new report Monday. But there are increasing signs that the best of times may be over.

Real estate agents around the Southland said Monday that in the two weeks since the terrorist attacks, home sales have slipped across the board, although not as much as they expected. Some agents said they sold five or six homes in the last two weeks, instead of eight to 10 for a normal two-week period.

Some reported cancellations from buyers who are worried about their jobs, including workers in the airline and entertainment industries. “People are much more conscious of the economy, and some are living in the shadow of fear right now,” said John Roberts, an agent at Mulhearn Realty in Lakewood.

Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist at the California Assn. of Realtors, said that although more buyers are cautious, “people are still definitely in the market.” Her revised estimate: Sales statewide will grow 4.9% this year, instead of the 6.7% previously forecast.

Part of the cautious optimism in the industry stems from the strong performance thus far this year. Apart from recent declines in the overheated Bay Area market, home sales and prices in California generally have advanced at a robust pace. And the summer was outstanding, as Monday’s report from DataQuick Information Systems Inc. showed.

In August, sales of new and existing homes in Los Angeles County jumped 18%, to 12,324. That was the highest monthly sales level since August 1989, about the peak of the last housing boom.

The median price of houses and condos combined in Los Angeles County climbed 13% last month from a year earlier, to $231,000. That was the sixth straight month of double-digit price increases, according to DataQuick, which compiles sales and prices based on actual closings in the month.

Home sales in Orange County rose more modestly, by 8% last month, to 5,100. And the median price in Southern California’s most expensive market hit a new record--$308,000, a 12% increase from August 2000.

The strong August capped a brisk summer for the entire Southern California home market. DataQuick said that for the six-county region, new and existing home sales in the June-to-August period jumped 10% from a year ago. The median price of homes rose 12% from the previous summer, to $235,000.

“It’s a stronger market than most people thought it would be,” said John Karevoll, the DataQuick analyst who prepared the report. Still, Karevoll does not expect the region’s market to maintain the summertime pace in the near term.

The luxury home market had already been slowing, and now some analysts are concerned about the lower end. Sales of more-affordable homes have been sizzling in recent months, but that market might soften as hotels, restaurants and other service businesses cut back from expected declines in tourism and airline industries.

Marty Rodriguez, owner of a Century 21 franchise in Glendora, said an airline employee who had a deposit on a $240,000 home backed out after the Sept. 11 attacks. Meanwhile, some sellers have begun lowering prices.

“Sellers are definitely feeling less greedy since Sept. 11,” Rodriguez said.