Santa Clarita Home Sales Rise 8%While also seeing inventory decline sharply, home and condominium sales during July throughout the Santa Clarita Valley increased com-pared to a year ago, with home sales up 8.6 percent and condos trans-actions rising 20.5 percent, the Southland Regional Association of Real-tors reported Friday.A total of 203 homes changed owners, up 16 transactions from the 187 sales of July 2011. Realtors also closed escrow on 88 condo sales, 15 higher than a year ago. The numbers continue a long-term trend that has local housing markets on a slow, steady recovery.

“It’s amazing that the month ended with sales higher than a year ago because, frank-ly, there are very few properties out there for people to buy,” said Erika Kauzlarich-Bird, president of the Association’s Santa Clarita Valley Division. “The inventory is tumbling. There are plenty of buyers, yet not much for them to mull over.”

Indeed, the Association reported a total of 490 active listings throughout the Santa Clarita Valley. That was down 57.3 percent from the 1,148 listings of July 2011.

The median price of the 203 homes sold last month of $350,000 was 5.4 percent below a year ago. Likewise, the condominium median price of $170,000 was down 21.8 percent from July 2011.

Of the 291 total transactions last month, 32.3 percent were short sales, 27.8 per-cent were standard sales, and 15.5 percent were REOs. “Short sales pose the biggest problem,” Kauzlarich-Bird said, noting that confusion over the true market value of a property offered via short sale sometimes yields an initial list price that is too low. That may generate multiple offers, but incorrect broker price opinions can keep prices below true market value, which discourages standard owners.

“The fact is that owners with even the smallest bit of equity are in a position to sell, move to a bigger or better home, while paying the same mortgage or less,” Kauzlarich-Bird said. “Instead of waiting for prices to rise, re-evaluate your posi-tion. Capture today’s low rates and low prices.”

Valley Home Sales, Prices Up as Supply Hits Record LowBy Wendy Silver-Hale, President, and David Walker

Southland Regional Association of Realtors®Even as the inventory of homes listed for sale throughout the San Fernando Valley dropped to a record low, closed escrows during July of existing single-family homes hit the second-highest tally in two years while median prices increased compared to a year ago, the Southland Regional Association of Realtors reported Friday.A total of 589 homes closed escrow last month, up 12.8 percent over July 2011 and 12.4 percent better than this June. It was the highest sales total so far this year and the highest figure since June of 2010, with the exception of 618 sales in August 2011 and July 2010 when an identical 589 homes changed owners.

The 191 condominium sales closed dur-ing June were down one transaction, or 0.5 percent from a year ago, and up 7.9 percent

from this June. It was the second highest condo tally this year. Condo sales are up 81.9 percent and single-family sales have increased 82.4 percent from their respective record lows for this cycle, both of which came in January 2008.

“It’s stun-ning how few homes are listed for sale,” said Wendy Silver-Hale, president of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors, “Even so, we are seeing significant increases in sales and prices. What everyone has been wishing for is coming to fruition.”

Silver-Hale noted that there is a “great decrease in the number of foreclosures and short sales,” with standard sales — traditional owners who have equity in their property — outstripping the combined total of local distressed sales.

Of the 780 transactions, 38.2 percent were standard sales, a number that was up from the 37.1 percent reported in June. Short sales captured 14.6 percent of the total while Real Estate Owned sales, foreclosed

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Wendy Silver-Hale2012 SRAR President

Settle Disputes Quickly with Free ProgramSouthland Regional Association of Realtors®

Parties to real estate transactions can settle disputes quickly and informally by using a unique and free Ombudsman Program provided by the South-land Regional Association of Realtors.“Anyone in a real estate dispute with a member of the Association who has not yet or does not want to file an official complaint can take advantage of our free program,” said Wendy Silver-Hale, president of SRAR. “An ombudsman will help resolve disputes in a timelier and less formal fashion. That benefits all parties.”

In some instances, the official, formal grievance process can take up to four months or longer before a dispute is resolved.

With the Ombudsman Program, individuals seeking assistance can expect to be contacted by their assigned ombudsman within two business days. The Ombudsman Program uses trained volunteers who will work with the parties from the start to the finish of a dispute. An ombudsman will contact the other party on the complainant’s behalf in an attempt to resolve the issue without the need to file a formal complaint.

“The role of the ombudsman is not to take sides or determine who is in violation,” Silver-Hale said, “but rather to facilitate proper communication among the disputing parties and find a resolution agreeable to all sides.”

Volunteer ombudsmen are trained in and familiar with the Realtors’ Code of Eth-ics, California real estate regulations, and current real estate practices.

They can respond to a wide variety of inquiries and complaints. In the event an issue proves to be too complex, a party can decide against using an ombudsman, or if the ombudsman is unable to facilitate a resolution of the dispute, any of the parties can file a formal complaint through SRAR’s Professional Standards Department.

Best of all, the Ombudsman Program is free and completely confidential. For more information, contact Michelle Gerhard, SRAR’s Professional Standards

administrator, at 818-947-2226 or via email at michelleg@srar.com.

‘It’s stunning how few homes are listed for sale. Even so, we

are seeing significant increases in sales and prices.’

properties being sold by lenders, accounted for 11.5 percent.

“The good news is that sales and prices are on the rise,” said Jim Link, the Associa-tion’s chief executive officer. “The bad news is there's not much to sell.”

Indeed, the 1,461 active listings on the lo-cal Multiple Listing Service operated by the Association fell 55.5 percent from a year ago and was the lowest total since SRAR started keeping the statistic in 1986. It surpassed the prior low of 1,492 active listings reported in March 2004. For comparison, the record high of 14,976 was set in July 1992.

At the current pace of sales the inventory represents a 1.9-month supply, a number suggesting sellers’ have an advantage. The inventory has been plummeting virtu-ally nonstop since hitting its peak for this cycle of 7,730 listings in October 2007.

That represented a 16.0-month supply at the then current pace of sales.

Link and Silver-Hale agreed that owners with equity in their prop-erty and a desire to move to a different house would be well advised to act now.

“There is an increased demand for homes, interest rates remain near historical lows, and prices are highly favorable,” Link said. “Waiting longer will not yield an advantage.”

The Southland Regional Association of Realtors® is one of the largest local trade as-sociations in the nation with more than 9,000 members serving the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

San Fernando ValleySingle-Family Closed Escrows - January 2003-2011

1991 129651992 13300 2.6%2000 4,606 -65.4%2002 3,172 -31.1%2003 2,535 -20.1%2004 3,153 24.4%2005 3,046 -3.4%2006 5,695 87.0%2007 6,633 16.5%2008 6,516 -1.8%2009 3,640 -45.1%2010 3,437 -5.6%2011 3,034 -11.7%2012 1,770 -41.7% First seven months 2012

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

2000 2002 2003 2005 2007 2009 2010 2011 2012

Average Annual Monthly Listings—2000-2012

Buyers are eager, rates are low, prices favorable, yet there is little to sell in the San Fernando Valley, a story repeated through-out Southern California. Compared to a year ago, the average monthly active listings valleywide during July were down 41.7 percent from the average for 2011. In fact, listings have been plummeting since 2007 after peaking with the annual monthly average of 6,633 active listings. So far this year the monthly average has been 1,770 listings. This July ended with record low listings, a mere 1,461. Compare that to the 7,730 high for this cycle in October 2007 and the all-time high of 14,976 in July 1992. Source: Southland Regional Association of Realtors.

Erika Kauzlarich-Bird, president of SRAR's Santa Clarita Valley Division