San Bernardino 92410: median sales price -- $92,000

This week's report on home sales from MDA DataQuick contained some eye-opening price declines in particularly distressed areas. I understand that many readers here are more interested in price trends in established Los Angeles neighborhoods -- I'll get to those this week -- but these are headline-making numbers.  This is a collapse in pricing in certain neighborhoods.

In the city of San Bernardino, ZIP Code 92410, quite a few houses sold in July -- 39. The median sales price in July in that area was $92,000. That's a 70.2% decline in median prices in a year. That puts the median sales price in that neighborhood at $309,000 last summer. That is a free-fall. In San Bernardino 92411, the median sales price was $94,000, a year-over-year decline of 68.1%.

Here are the Los Angeles County ZIP Codes with the lowest median prices in July:

Area/ZIP              homes sold/median price      % decline from July '07
Palmdale/93591          5/$105,000                                -55.3%
Lancaster/93534        82/$124,000                             -54.3%
Lancaster/93535        131/$148,000                           -47.3%
Palmdale/93550          105/$150,000                            -49.5%
Littlerock/93543        13/$180,000                             -41.9%
Palmdale/93552          75/$190,000                              -37.7%
Lake Hughes/93532   6/$195,000                               -40.1%
L.A.-Watts/90002      15/$200,000                             -51.0%

-- Peter Viles
Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[IToldu2CashOut]

This will happen in other areas as well, downtown, hollywood, silverlake, culver city, come to mind. Every neighborhood in LA will see a 50% drop.

The writing is on the wall, problem is most sellers are illiterate.

[E]

Well now...it looks like "correction" is no longer an appropriate term.

Perhaps we should just call it what it is...and will continue to be.

A crash.

[Jason M]

I'll say it again, these stats are meaningless until that are converted to a price per square foot #.

[mike]

i have asked this question befor here and i will ask it again( i never get an answer) do the people on this blog want prices to fall or stabilize or go up? personally i think falling prices are good for the overall pictre at this point...

[Laker]

E,
Housing is correcting as we speak. I don't think we should call it a crash unless we get to 1980's or 1970s prices in Nominal dollars....
We can actually see what this $92,000 median house actually means...
1) We must find the square footage and thus calculate the price per sf that is selling now.
2) We need to look back and see at what year this San Berdo zip code was selling for $92,000.
My guess is that we are at 2000-2001 prices.
So no such big deal.
I know that during the last bubble 1997-2007, people already forgot, but back in the old days (just 10 years ago), a median 3/2 1600 sf house in san berdo was indeed selling for $80,000. Same house in the SFV was selling for $140,000. And same house in San Marino/Pasadena, west side was selling....for $300,000.

So what a big deal if we are getting there once again...
It is not like the San berdo house will be worth $10,000 as it was back in 1972.

Bottom line, ALL AREAS of LA will have their prices cut about 50%.

[Drew]

Jason M | August 20, 2008 at 03:53 PM: "I'll say it again, these stats are meaningless until that are converted to a price per square foot #."

Add to that property condition -- whether a house is in "triple mint" condition (in New York City parlance); excellent, good, so-so, barely liveable, or tear-down condition does (or should) play a large factor in selling price.

I'd expect a place in "move-in" condition to be priced higher per square foot than a similar property that's a "major fixer" or worse. And I've seen worse, there's a lot of truly "distressed" properties on the market today.

[Mary C.]

According to a Wikipedia article on San Bernardino, it has a severe gang problem (I've also read news stories about that). The worst area for gang activity is centered around Mount Vernon Avenue, and in looking that up on Yahoo maps, the Zip codes of that street just happen to be 92410 and 92411. So, maybe it makes sense that prices would drop that drastically in those areas. The insanity of the bubble is that prices in even the toughest of neighborhoods escalated dramatically. The housing stocks in such areas also tend to be older, smaller, and sometimes not as well-maintained. The combination of the housing stock and the lesser desirability of the neighborhood probably drove the prices down.

[esp4p3]

Mike - I'd like to see prices fall more, they are still not affordable at current levels.

[bigunit]

Price per SF is a joke. It is a tool for listing agents and other math-challenged pseudo professionals. In general, lot size and zoning will contribute most significantly to the future appreciation of your real estate. Converting these stats to price/sf is an exercise in futility and makes about as much sense as comparing median prices in 92410 to those in West Hollywood. After all, the median home is relatively similar in size?!?! Correct?

[first time buyer]

here's a random one from san bernardino:
710 N H St sold in 2001 for $42k (618 sq ft = 468/sq ft)
now for sale for $48.5k
basically realised no appreciation but supports the theory we're just at 2001 prices and not lower yet.
now realestateabc lists houses right around this house that sold 2 years ago and going rate was over $200 sq ft
http://www.realestateabc.com/home-values/CA/
San%20Bernardino/361819F99ABCDDF5451C09E6A
385F600

[aj]

Hi Pete,
The biggest issue going into the end of this week is the potential collapse of Fannie and Fred. This will be the biggest bailout that the nation has seen. This will impact the liquidity and availability of the average american to get affordable housing. Obviously, this will be sorted out eventually but the impact is going to be immense.
We are talking about trillions of dollars that our wonderful nation is going to have to back up and support.
Just my humble opinoin. AJ

[shockg]

Bottom line, ALL AREAS of LA will have their prices cut about 50%.

LOL, Im sure you have proof to back that up right? That's what I thought. Comparing the 909 market to all areas of LA is crazy.

[silverjunkee]

So prices in that area finally reflect their true values. It's about time. Next stop for the "Correction Train", Thousandaire villages due west. Don't stop till you hit sand and waves.

[Laker]

shock,
Open your eyes, sit tight, and smell the coffee. The blood is flowing down the street, and the sky is dark.
But for you...I guess you still getting your commission so everything is good in prime LA...

Do you really believe anything you say? I can't believe that you are in such a denial....I just can't....
I see many properties listed and sold at 50% of last sales price in the SFV, I will collect some, and post them.

[E]

ShockG...

with a screen-name like that...have you considered becoming a rapper.

ShockGMoney has a nice ring to it too.

[The original RZ]

I think my response to Mike's question got lost in the shuffle yesterday...

Mike, I want to see prices come down even more. Despite the recent decline, they are still much too high. Homes need to be affordable again for the middle class.

[Francine]

If you want some more data...

http://www.redfin.com/zipcode/93591
http://www.redfin.com/zipcode/93534
http://www.redfin.com/zipcode/93535
http://www.redfin.com/zipcode/93550

Price/sq. foot is tracked and is about half of what it was at the beginning of '07

[amir]

hey Shock,

Are you shocked? You should be. Your predictions have all been wrong.

By the way, it's not 50%, it's AT LEAST 50% in all areas. Lousy areas will decline more.

The economic reasons for the decline have been posted here numerous times:

Unaffordable RE in relation to incomes, low return to investors in relation to CDs, stupid loans, banks going down, inventory rising, foreclosures peaking, local recession, Cali state government cutting expenses and raising taxes, collapsing dollar, creeping higher interest rates, higher gas prices, an over reliance on the real estate business by the local economy, and a huge hangover from the biggest RE bubble in the history of the region if not the country.

You ain't seen nothing yet.

[CompaJD]

What I am wondering is how to get a list of the shadow inventory that's not listed? Does anybody have a story of a Super Low Ball offer that a bank actually agreed to?