Realtors assisted the close of escrow on 188 single-family homes during November in the Santa Clarita Valley, up 9.9 percent from a year ago, according to the latest report from the Southland Regional Association of Realtors.

An additional 67 condominiums also changed owners last month, but that number was off 18.3 percent from November 2017.

2018 local sales are likely to end with home closed escrows down 6.8 from a year ago while condominiums transactions were 15 percent lower as of November.

“Local resale prices have softened, the inventory has grown, and interest rates have fallen enough in recent months to keep serious buyers in the hunt for a home,” said M. Dean Vincent, chairman of the Association’s Santa Clarita Valley Division.

“There’s still some uncertainty regarding the direction of the economy,” he said, “yet Santa Clarita is such a desirable market that local buyers understand the need to act while the current window of opportunity is open.”

The median price of homes that changed owners last month was $560,000, down 3.4 percent from a year ago and 5.9 percent lower than this October.

The condominium median price of $390,000 was up 1.7 percent from 12 months ago, but off 2.5 percent from this October, which follows seasonal patterns. The record high condominium median price of $410,000 came in April.

“Price increases have stopped or slowed to single-digit gains in most price tiers,” said Tim Johnson, the Association’s chief executive officer. “That reflects pushback from buyers, forcing sellers to be more realistic, and comes as an increasing inventory gives buyers more leverage and more options to choose from.”

There were 603 active listings reported at the end of November, up 43.9 percent over a year ago.

While the actual number of listings needs to be higher to balance the market, the inventory has been building steadily beginning in June with sizable double-digit increases every month since.

It’s likely that 2018 will end with the monthly inventory average about 19 percent higher than 2017.

At the current pace of sales, the 603 active listings represented a 2.4-month supply at the current pace of sales. The supply hit 3.1-months in September and has been above a 2.0-month average for five consecutive months.

That comes after two years with the inventory under a 2-month supply and hitting a 1.1-month supply a year ago December.

Pending escrows, a measure of future activity, were down 21.6 percent from a year ago.

For the second month, there were zero single-family foreclosure-related transactions and one condominium REO. Standard sales, involving traditional buyers and sellers, accounted for 98.4 percent of the 255 combined residential transactions.

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.