Home Prices Up 19.7% as New Projects Hit Market

Prices for new homes in Ventura County jumped 19.7% from July to September, and the number of new houses and condominiums ready for occupancy dropped to a 10-year low of 11, a new report states.

The average home cost $317,810, up from $265,448 in the previous quarter, according to the Metro Bulletin, a quarterly published by Continental Land Title Co.

Buyers will shell out an average of $350,000 for a new house, up about 22% from the previous quarter, the report said. A new condominium costs $180,000, up about 1.4%.

The skyrocketing house prices resulted largely from luxury projects--some with prices as high as $550,000--reaching the market for the first time, according to Janet Brown, a research assistant with the Siracusa Co., the Thousand Oaks real estate consulting firm that compiled the figures.

The report indicates that the county’s housing prices, which have been steadily growing since 1985, will continue to escalate.

“As long as there are building restrictions, the prices should continue to go up,” Brown said.

She said temporary fluctuations will be seen from time to time. High demand, growth restrictions and a building trend favoring larger and more luxurious homes all contribute to the high prices, she added.

Brown said her figures are reached by averaging base prices for lots throughout Ventura County and including the Westlake Village and Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County, which are considered part of the local housing market.

In fact, the average price for local homes may be even higher because the survey does not take into account fees that must be paid for particularly desirable lots. “Lot premiums can go anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000 if it’s on a golf course,” Brown said.

There were 887 new homes sold in the surveyed area during the third quarter, leaving 111 available homes unsold, the survey found. Of the remaining 111, only 11 have been completed. The remainder are in various stages of construction.

Of the 111, 75 of the units are at the Palm Colony project in Camarillo.