Home prices remained expensive in the San Fernando Valley during the month of October with the median price hitting $625,000 for the second time this year while sales declined once again, according to a trade association.

Last month, the median price increased 11 percent from a year earlier and gained $5,000 from September, according to the Van Nuys-based Southland Regional Association of Realtors. The median price also reached $625,000 in August and it’s been $600,000 or higher since April.

The median price is still 5 percent under the record high of $655,000 that occurred in June 2007, the peak of the last boom market. And it is 84 percent higher than the market cycle’s low point of $339,000 in December 2011, association officials said.

Meanwhile, the Valley’s condominium market offered some relief for buyers with the median unit price dropping 4 percent from a year earlier to $355,000 and falling $20,000 from September, according to the association.

“Faced with growing buyer resistance to rising resale prices, the condo median price has been drifting down since peaking at $397,000 earlier this year,” association president Gina Uzunyan said in a statement. “Properly priced condos still sell quickly because there simply are not enough listings available to satisfy demand.”

Sales of both houses and condominiums declined from their year-ago levels as well as their September levels and continue to be constrained by scant inventory.

During October, sales of previously owned houses fell 7 percent to 485 and declined 14 percent from September, according to the association.

Condominium sales fell 4 percent from a year earlier to 200 units. And there were four fewer units sold last month than in September.

The sales dips in both sectors are said to reflect seasonal trends. But it looks as if this could be one of the weakest sales years on record.

Home sales have fallen from their prior year level during eight of the year’s first 10 months and condominium transactions were down in seven of the first 10 months.

The level of inventory and pending sales do not suggest a market surge in the year’s last two months.

At the end of October, the number of homes listed for sale was down 4 percent from a year ago to 1,587 properties, a 2.3 month supply at the current sales pace, the association said.

And pending sales, a measure of future activity, fell 9 percent from a year ago to 702.

Jim Link, the association’s CEO, doesn’t see anything on the horizon that is likely to trigger a sudden increase in listings of homes and condos for sale.

“2016 will be remembered for its extremely limited inventory, ” Link said in a statement. “Even with tight inventory, buyers finally resisted once prices soared to levels not seen since last decade.”