Over the past year, short sales and foreclosures, key indicators of the health of the housing market, have dramatically increased in Southern California. Originally, foreclosures and short sales were occurring in the Inland Empire, Lancaster and northern Los Angeles County, but now they’re creeping south.
From Jan. 1 to Dec. 1, 2010, 59 short sales were recorded in Sherman Oaks. This year during the same period, 92 homes sold in short sales with another 36 pending sales and 22 actively listed, for a total of 150 properties, a 154% increase. Meanwhile, foreclosures sold during the same months last year totaled 48, compared to 51 foreclosure sales closed, four pending and another nine on the market, for a total of 64 homes, a 33% increase.
About a third of the short sales and the majority of foreclosures occurred in pricey neighborhoods north of Ventura Boulevard. Although home prices in the southern San Fernando Valley, including Sherman Oaks, slid down about 26% to 35% during the economic downturn, they were still less than the 40% to 60% price declines recorded in other locales.
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