L.A. price declines larger in cheaper, more outlying areas

Blogger Peter Viles at L.A. Land has compiled an interesting collection of stats on recent existing home activity for various zip codes in Los Angles County. His original theory was that more entry-level areas were taking a larger hit on prices, but I think it's more than just that -- some of these areas are also further out from employment centers, so it makes sense that the larger price declines would take place in places such as Palmdale and Lancaster. After all, if you could buy a home an newly affordable home in the San Fernando Valley, why would you commute further to the Santa Clarita or Antelope Valleys? For more central areas -- such as Reseda and Norwalk -- it's also the issue of the credit crunch impacting the availability of mortgages. Very interesting stats!

Here's the table he provided in his post:

Area/ZIP No. of sales Median Price decline from Feb. '07
Lancaster/93536 50 $258,000 -31.7%
Palmdale/93551 36 $308,000 -25.8%
Reseda/91335 35 $393,000 -26.0%
Norwalk/90650 30 $352,000 -27.8%
Lancaster/93535 29 $202,000 -36.0%
Long Beach/90808 27 $515,000 -8.0%
Altadena/91001 25 $549,000 -8.6%
Granada Hills/91344 24 $469,000 -23.4%
La Mirada/90638 23 $450,000 -16.7%
Lakewood/90712 23 $430,000 -19.9%
LA/Mar Vista/90066 22 $832,000 +0.8%
Lancaster/93534 22 $185,000 -36.2%
Northridge/91325 22 $565,000 -26.1%
Rancho P.V./90275 22 $1.11 Million +3.3%
North Hills/91343 21 $440,000 -21.4%
Palmdale/93552 21 $238,000 -33.9%
Canyon Country/91351 20 $405,000 -19.0%
Claremont/91711 20 $495,000 -16.2%
Pico Rivera/90660 20 $380,000 -20.3%

Below $300K: Avg. price change is -34.5%
$300K-$400K: Avg. price change is -26.8%
$400K-$600K: Avg. price change is -17.7%
$600K-$800K: No ZIPs with 20 or more sales
$800K and above: Avg. price change is +2.0%