FOR RELEASE: January 18, 1999

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Jim Link, Executive Vice President, 818-222-1335

David R. Walker, 818-222-1335

1998 San Fernando Valley Home Sales

Post Highest Total of the Decade

The San Fernando Valley residential resale market soared to the highest sales total of the decade last year, eliminating virtually all traces of the recession of the early 1990s and positioning owners and buyers for an equally bright New Year.

The Southland Regional Association of Realtors today reported that local Realtors closed escrow last year on a total of 16,555 properties, up 11.8 percent over a year ago for the highest sales total since 1989.

Realtors guided transactions worth nearly $4 billion to home sellers and the economy of the San Fernando Valley.

ASales have been on a steady climb for the last six years, yet no one fully predicted last year=s incredible activity,@ said Beth L. Sommer, the 1999 president of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors. A1998 sales would have been even higher if only there had been more properties listed for sale.@

Listings of properties processed by the Multiple Listing Service operated by the Association climbed 9.2 percent last year, but even the year=s 25,810 listings failed to satisfy the enormous demand for housing.

AQuality listings continue to fly off the market within hours or days of being listed for sale,@ said Jim Link, the association=s executive vice president. AWhat=s interesting is that while there are flash fights between multiple buyers over some properties there are still plenty of bargains out there for buyers willing to do some repairs.@

Both Link and Sommer predicted that the 1999 resale market will be as active as 1998 and possibly even hotter if interest rates remain favorable and owners decide to sell because resale prices have recaptured ground lost to the recession.

AResale activity for the last several years had been concentrated in entry level homes,@ Sommer said, Abut 1998 saw activity increase in all price ranges, including the trade-up market. Prices may not rise as quickly as they did in 1998, but I=m expecting even more resale activity in 1999.@

The single-family annual average resale price soared 16.3 percent last year to $262,700. It was the highest annual average since the $283,386 figure reported as the market sank into the depths of recession in 1992.

The condominium annual average resale price of $127,467 jumped a stunning 24.8 percent over the previous year and ended at the highest point since 1993.

Of the 16,555 closed escrows reported last year, single-family homes accounted for 13,242 sales, up 14.7 percent over 1997 and the highest annual total since 1988. The 3,313 condominiums that closed escrow last year represented a 1.6 percent increase and was the highest total since 1990.

The final months of 1998 followed traditional seasonal patterns with sales of both single-family homes and condominiums slowing down due to the holidays and posting numbers lower than the prior year. The December single-family total of 1,015 closed escrows was 11.9 percent lower than December 1997. The condo total of 273 sales was down 10.2 percent.

The Southland Regional Association of Realtors is a local trade association comprised of more than 6,000 members serving the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys. It is one of the largest local associations the nation.

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