Location, Location, Location Replaced by Price, Price, Price

By RON GALPERIN

June 15, 1993 12 AM PT

This continues to be a tough time for San Fernando Valley real estate agents. But, while the average prices for single-family houses sold in the Valley are lower than they were last year and the year before, the number of houses sold in May was up dramatically in the Valley’s lowest-priced neighborhoods.

According to numbers compiled by the San Fernando Board of Realtors, the volume of sales actually increased by about 23% in May over year-ago figures in communities such as Panorama City, Pacoima, San Fernando and Sylmar.

These are actually pretty decent times for real estate agents and brokers in the northeastern part of the Valley.

“You have more buyers that can afford the cheaper properties,” said Ron Love, an agent at Day Realty Co. in Arleta.

This month, for example, Love sold a trilevel home in Pacoima with 1,900 square feet of space and a view for $145,000. The selection of homes in the $150,000 range is better than ever, he said, and interest rates are helping attract first-time buyers.

“The so-called marginal areas are the best places for first-time home buyers,” observed Ruben Marquez, agent at Exclusive Realtors Inc. in North Hollywood.

“First-time buyers don’t buy what they want, they buy what they can,” he said. “Location, location, location doesn’t apply,” he added. “It’s price, price, price that counts.”

Marquez said a good example of the kind of homes that are selling is one that he recently sold in Arleta. The four-bedroom home in move-in condition with central air conditioning sold for $150,000--well below what a comparable home would cost in most any other part of the Valley or Ventura County.

Marquez reports that sales have been brisk. The typical purchasers in communities like Pacoima and Panorama City, he said, are blue-collar, dual-income families with children.

The inventory of available homes is quite high, thanks in large part to the large number of bank repossessions, Marquez said. This has helped to bring down home prices, but “the houses haven’t depreciated as much as in the higher priced neighborhoods.”

Donna Beebe, vice president and sales manager at Fred Sands Realtors North Valley regional office in Van Nuys, agreed: “The higher-value homes have taken a much higher hit in terms of percentage losses.”

While Sands has traditionally concentrated on a more “upscale” market, she said, “today, the lower-priced homes are where the market activity is. Agents who don’t jump on that wagon may not be doing a lot of business.”

Demand is strong for homes under $250,000, Beebe said. “There’s always demand on the low end.” In fact, she said, many of the lower-priced homes are attracting multiple offers. “For most people, the dream of owning a home is very much a part of their psyche,” she said.

“Affordability is the key word and buyers are bargain-hunting,” said Ana Maria Colon, broker at ERA Rocking Horse Realty in San Fernando.

Most of her three-bedroom, two-bath homes sell for about $125,000 to $175,000. With FHA and other types of financing currently available, many buyers are getting into these homes for as little as a 3% down payment.

In the midst of what’s now a three-year-long real estate recession, “We’ve been able to hold our own,” Colon said.

Compared to her real estate colleagues in communities like Encino or Studio City, she said, “we’re selling many more properties.”