Woodland Hills median price micro-view

Next up, Woodland Hills, which has two ZIP Codes, hence the double decker on the single-family home sales statistics from MDA DataQuick.

Woodland Hills 91364

Date/Number sold/Median price (in thousands)/Percent change from previous year

2002   607    $429    17.9% 
2003   608    $525    22.4%
2004   579    $655    24.7%   
2005   525    $750    14.5%   
2006   395    $792    5.1%   
2007   335    $811    2.2% 

Since again there aren't enough sales in October to give a full picture, I've added several months previous. These percentage drops are from the same month in 2007.
    
01/2008    15     $875      5.7%
02/2008    21     $624    -21.6%
03/2008    16     $530    -35.4%
04/2008    24     $700    -19.9% 
05/2008    25     $630    -23.2%   
06/2008    23     $625    -35.7%   
07/2008    25     $726     -3.2%
09/2008    20     $593    -23.4%
10/2008    31     $600    -17.8%

Woodland Hills 91367

Date/Number sold/Median price/Percent change from previous year

2002   502    $405    14.7%
2003   542    $485    19.8%
2004   510    $610    25.8%    
2005   467    $725    18.9% 
2006   395    $765     5.8%   
2007   323    $750    -1.8%

These percentage drops are from the same month in 2007.
 
01/2008    14     $540    -30.3%
02/2008     8      $613    -13.2%
03/2008    17     $587    -23.5% 
04/2008    14     $718     -1.0%   
05/2008    27     $690     -8.8%
06/2008    19     $535    -32.5%   
07/2008    23     $587    -26.5%
09/2008    23     $570    -21.4%*
10/2008    21     $458    -28.0%*

That's a steep turnaround in 2008 for both ZIPs after mostly hanging on through 2007. (Sorry to say August is missing from my databank.)

*Update: Laker asks a question here on why the median changes so much from September to October. It's because too few homes sold to give an accurate picture. Up in the year over year totals we have enough houses selling to get a good comparison. But the medians for 23 or 21 houses can vary widely based on which particular homes sold. DataQuick likes a sample size of at least 50 to give a good indication. So in these ZIP Codes with few sales each month we're merely watching the progress so far this year.   

-- Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Top photo: A home in the old Girard Tract in Woodland Hills. Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times. Bottom: A five-bedroom, 9 1/2-bath residence in Woodland Hills listed this year at $3.6 million.

Comments

[NewtoLA]

the only question I have is whether SFVrealtestate was arguing in 2005 that the increase in prices everyone was witnessing in Woodland Hills was really due to observers taking stats out of context--that real estate trends were really local phenomena, and that, in fact many neighborhoods were actually decreasing in value?

Dude, you and I share political philosophies, but you are bleeding bias on this issue.

[Laker]

Thank Lauren for putting WH data.
However, I don't understand the following:
09/2008 23 $570 -21.4%
10/2008 21 $458 -28.0%
Are you telling me the median price sold this September was $570,000 and next month it dropped to $458,000.
It does not make sense, and seems meaningless.
I think if you can somehow get the price per square foot sold for those dates, you will get 100 fold better picture of what's happening.
We know that October signaled the huge slump in the stock market, so it is safe to assume some serious damage to higher end home price.

btw: most of the jobs that are getting lost these days are white collar jobs and high income earners....not job, not mortgage payments, no matter how down you are going to modify the payment...

[Drew]

I agree with Laker, we need the price per square foot figure for an accurate comparison.

Because financing is relatively more readily available for properties priced around $500k or less (and can thus qualify for conforming loans with a 20% down payment), these properties are selling.

Properties priced higher languish on the market because financing is relatively less available. No financing = no sale.

And the lower-priced properties are likely to be smaller and otherwise less desirable (think location, location, location, and quality).

So I'd be willing to bet that the median square footage of sold properties is likely significantly lower today than it was a year ago. But that the sale price per square foot has not dipped as much.

[Blogged Out!]

Dear Ms. Beale, We don't understand why the Times has these blogs. The stuff that you and the other "bloggers" are writing about consists of information that the Times USED to make available in the printed-paper itself. Why the blogs? It makes no sense for the readers who get the print paper to then seek out grandchildren or neighbors in order to access the internet just to read what's just been written here. How ridiculous is THAT! We miss ALL of this information when we subscribe to the print edition. It seems to us that the Times is just shooting itself in the foot by competing with ITSELF! It takes too much time to search out "blogs" and access computers in order to do so. The Times seriously needs to rethink this preposterousness. The information IS important for ALL of us but the blogging nonsense is just a waste of time--even if this is the only way I might be heard on this topic!