Residential Real Estate Market Still in Doldrums : Economy: Lower mortgage rates help some buyers afford single-family houses, but they aren’t sparking overall sales, the realty board said.

The Valley’s residential real estate market remained sluggish in November, with combined sales of single-family houses and condominiums dropping 4% from the previous month and 7% from a year earlier, the San Fernando Valley Board of Realtors said Monday.

The latest declines followed a 19% month-to-month drop in October, with consumer skittishness about the weak economy continuing to weigh on sales and offsetting a recent decline in mortgage interest rates.

Lower rates are helping some buyers afford single-family detached houses instead of condominiums, the board noted, but they aren’t sparking the overall market.

“In the short-term, we think a growing number of people will try to grab the opportunities� available in single-family housing, “but a full-fledged recovery of real estate won’t appear until consumer confidence returns and the economy revives,� board President Steve Owen said in a statement.

Meanwhile, resale prices for housing edged higher last month, although they’ve dropped considerably from their record-high levels reached last summer.

The average resale price for a single-family house in November was $289,300, up 3% from $281,100 in October and $280,200 a year earlier, the board said. The record average was $313,200, set in August.

The median single-family house price last month was $227,500, up 1% from October and a year earlier, but down 7% from the record $245,000 set in November, 1989, the board said. The median means half the houses sold for more than that price, and half sold for less.

A total of 597 single-family houses were resold last month, down from 633 in October and 603 a year earlier. Condominium sales in November totaled 162, up 3% from 158 the previous month but down 24% from 214 in November, 1990.

Sales were heaviest last month in the eastern portion of the Valley--including such communities as North Hollywood, Van Nuys and San Fernando--where there is “the largest selection of homes within reach of first-time buyers,� Owen said.

The Valley realty board, the largest in California, reports housing sales by its members in the area from Agoura to North Hollywood.

Its statistics do not include sales of most new residences.

November Valley House Sales North West: Avg. Price: $266,700 Sales: 28 North Central: Avg. Price: $300,300 Sales: 95 North East: Avg. Price: $168,400 Sales: 94 South West: Avg. Price: $310,000 Sales: 173 South Central: Avg. Price: $326,300 Sales: 87 South East: Avg. Price: $323,500 Sales: 120