Home sales fall in September

A total of 217 houses were sold last month, lower than the 262 sold in August

Santa Clarita home costs were on the rise in September as fewer homes were sold, according to the Southland Regional Association of Realtors.

“Sellers would be wise to understand that they need to adopt new strategies as the pool of prospective buyers shrinks due to rising prices,” Santa Clarita Valley Division Chairman Marty Kovacs said in a statement.

The median home cost $585,000 last month, up from $574,500 in August and $525,000 in September 2016.

Last month’s prices are an 11.4 percent increase from last year and 1.8 percent increase from last month.

A total of 217 Santa Clarita homes were sold in September, lower than the 262 sold the month before and 228 in the prior year.

However, slower slows may also be tied to the decrease in active listings which declined 16.3 percent from last year, down to 538 homes listed. This is 1.7-month supply, below the nine-year average of a 4.9-month backlog, according to the association.

“I think because our inventory in general is still low, it plays a part in the drop of home sales,” Suzanne Meadows with Realty Executives SCV said. “And in the same breath, because of that lower inventory, home prices in certain price points have tended to inch upward and we find buyers are willing to pay a little more for a home than they would in a market with more homes to choose from.”

While the market fluctuates each month, Meadows said the second and third quarters of the year proved to be busy for her.

Often, clients opting to sell their homes

chose to move elsewhere in the Santa Clarita Valley, she said.

Kovacs said that in his experience he sees well-priced homes that would have sold if only the owner had updated the property.

Though the number of houses sold decreased, the number of condominiums sold remained steady at 96, the exact same as last

September and a slight increase from 91 in August.

The cost for condos stayed the same as well, remaining at $360,000 from August to September. This price is a decrease from last September when the median condo cost $372,000.

September showed a 3.2 percent decrease in cost from this time last year.