Dwindling inventory, rising rates complicate market
May home sales in the Santa Clarita Valley were complicated by dwindling inventory and rising interest rates, the Southland Regional Association of Realtors reported Thursday.
A total of 226 singlefamily homes changed owners last month, down 8.1 percent from the previous month. The 105 condominiums that closed escrow in May represented a 1.9-percent dip from April.
“The 30-year, fixedrate mortgage saw a jump of 20 basis points in just one week during May,” M. Dean Vincent, chairman of SRAR’s Santa Clarita Valley Division, said in a news release. “That pushed rates to the highest level since 2014. Higher mortgage rates and still rising home resale prices hurt affordability, limiting the number of people who can afford to buy, which may translate to fewer sales.”
Prices, however, remained on the rise.
The median price for homes sold in May was $615,000, up 9.8 percent from a year ago, while the median condo price rose to $404,000, up 9.2 percent from May 2017.
“An expanding inventory would temper price appreciation,” Tim Johnson, the association’s CEO, said in the release. “Yet the lack of supply combined with expected additional interest rate increases later this year will limit what buyers are willing to pay for a home, and that may hold price increases in check.”
There were 470 active listings across the valley at the close of May. That was down 2.9 percent from a year ago and represented a mere 1.4-month supply at the current pace of sales, according to the SRAR report.
SRAR is a local trade association with more than 10,300 members serving the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys.