As the inventory of homes listed for sale during March in Santa Clarita fell 38.3 percent, sales of homes and condominiums took off, with the condo median price setting a record, the Southland Regional Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

A total of 256 single-family homes changed owners during March. That was up 39.1 percent from a year ago and 55.2 percent ahead of this February. Similarly, 111 condominiums closed escrow, up 38.8 percent from March 2020 and 48.0 percent higher than February.

“The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing safer-at-home orders and business closures didn’t hit until April 2020,” said Nicole Stinson, chair of the Association’s Santa Clarita Division Council. “Last March, sales were still relatively strong, so to surpass those numbers shows promise for the months ahead.”

Pending escrow, which provide insight into future closed escrow activity, suggest that April will be exceptionally busy, especially compared to April 2020. At the end of this March there were 406 pending escrows, an increase of 72.8 percent over 12 months ago.

With interest rates remaining at or near historical lows despite recent fluctuations, the lack of inventory is the primary brake on the local residential resale market.

“The local supply is down 38 percent with only 221 listings reported at the end of March,” said Tim Johnson, the Association’s CEO. “Given the heavy demand, that supply won’t last long.”

Indeed, the 221 active listings represented a mere 0.6-month supply at the current pace of sales. Over the last 13 years Association statistics show that the monthly average was a 3.7-month supply or about 900 active listing per month.

The median price of the homes 256 homes that changed owners came in at $737,000, an increase of 17.0 percent from a year ago, but slightly below the record high $759,000 posted in September.

The condominium median price of $465,000 was up 19.2 percent from 12 months ago, setting a record high.

The Southland Regional Association of Realtors is a local trade association with more than 10,300 members serving the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys. SRAR is one of the largest
local associations in the nation.