Housing Prices Plunge Across County : Real estate: Ojai, Santa Paula, Camarillo are pockets of relative strength despite the overall decline. Values there have decreased less than 3%.

Four years ago, Craig and Phyllis Irwin bought a retirement home in Fillmore. The $223,000 price was a little high, but housing values were soaring and Fillmore reminded them of their small-town roots.

Then Craig Irwin got cancer.

The 57-year-old engineer won his yearlong battle with the disease, but the prospect that it could return led the couple to try to sell their home and move to Arkansas, where Phyllis could live on her salary as a registered nurse.

While Craig was fighting for his life, Ventura County’s once-hot real estate market gave up and died. Now the Irwins are trapped in a home they don’t want by a market that seems to be going nowhere.

But the housing market in Ventura County has pockets of relative strengthdespite the overall decline of home prices. In some areas, home prices have dropped less than elsewhere in the county.

Had the Irwins bought in Santa Paula or Ojai back in 1988, they might already be in Arkansas.

Homes in Ojai, Santa Paula and east Camarillo have experienced decreases of less than 3%. Although that’s still disappointing in a market where yearly increases in assessed value were almost a given, it is far less than Fillmore’s 14.2% drop.

Homes in west Oxnard and Ventura have suffered the most, with declines in median value averaging more than 30%.

Higher-end homes have taken the worst blows. In west Oxnard, median home prices have plummeted from $290,000 in 1989 to $187,500 in June. But Joe Young, president of the Oxnard Board of Realtors, said the drastic drop can be explained: Higher-priced homes along the beachfront are not moving, while lower-end tract homes, priced at about $170,000, are still selling.

“That brings the median down,” Young said.

Median home values in some parts of Thousand Oaks hovered at $400,000 three years ago. Now the only homes that are selling well cost less than $300,000, according to Emily Ireland, president of the Conejo Valley Board of Realtors. “I don’t know many people that are moving up,” she said.

Some areas of the county have remained stable, however. Most notable is Ojai, where slow-growth measures helped stem the flood of high-priced housing units that saturated much of Ventura County. Median home prices in Ojai dropped an average of just 1.4% since 1989. Don Cutler, president of the Ojai Board of Realtors, said his area’s natural beauty and small-town values have helped it weather the market downturn. “We have a high desirability factor,” he said. “A lot of people are looking for this type of community, and that has helped us maintain a better value.”

Like most of Southern California’s real estate market, median home prices in Ventura County soared in the late 1980s, then dropped in the early ‘90s. But the decrease here--an average of $18,000 over the past three years--was more severe than elsewhere as growth slowed, the recession deepened and earning power diminished.

In comparison, the average home posted a slight gain of $900 over the past three years in neighboring Santa Barbara County. Even Los Angeles County homes outperformed Ventura’s, with an average drop of just $6,000.

“You’re looking at a pretty significant reduction in price” in Ventura County, said George Kite, president of the Ventura Board of Realtors.

“If anybody bought a home in 1988 or 1989, they are taking a hit now,” said Oxnard realtor Young.

The countywide bad news brings its own silver lining: There are plenty of deals for those who can afford to buy.

“There is an unusual alignment of the planets,” Kite said. “Low interest rates, low prices and motivated sellers.”

After a three-month search earlier this year, first-time buyers Jay and Marian Harding stumbled onto a very motivated seller.

“We knew $150,000 was all we could spend,” said Marian Harding, who added that the couple wanted a permanent home for their three young children. “We knew there wasn’t much hope.”

The Hardings took a shine to a three-bedroom home in Thousand Oaks. Owned by a bank through foreclosure, the property was priced well above the Hardings’ $150,000 limit. On the advice of their realtor they bid below what the bank was asking.

“We took a gamble and offered $145,000,” Harding said. “They countered with $150,000 and we grabbed it.”

The home sold for $176,000 in 1989.

Real estate experts say that first-time buyers, who tend to purchase less pricey homes, make up the lion’s share of today’s market. Higher-priced homes, known as “move-ups” since they are often purchased by homeowners looking for a larger house, have not been selling well.

But the prices are right for first-time buyers, said Ireland of the Conejo Valley Board of Realtors. “I don’t know how the loan programs could be any better,” she said.

That may be, but many would-be buyers are having a hard time coming up with a down payment, according to Olav Hassel, housing services director for the city of Thousand Oaks.

“The credit bubble has burst,” he said. “In the ‘80s, it was very easy for people to qualify for credit.”

For those who are willing to buy, “it seems like the breaking point is $200,000,” said C.J. Morford, president of the Santa Paula Board of Realtors. “Higher-priced homes are really slow right now.”

Morford blames the recession for the trend. “Many of the people who are losing their jobs are white-collar managers,” she said. “And businesses are moving out of California because the cost of doing business is too high.”

Ventura County’s economic statistics prove that point. June’s 8.5% unemployment rate was the highest since the 1983-84 recession. Migration into Ventura County has dropped from a high of 10,968 in 1988 to a trickle of 2,191 this year, according to the California Department of Finance. And housing starts, which soared to more than 5,000 in 1986, dropped to 1,047 last year.

“There are a lot of unsold units on the market,” said Steve Wood, Ventura County senior planner. “It is not a good time to build and get into debt waiting to sell.”

Frances Jao learned that lesson. Encouraged by the sky-high market of 1988-89, Jao and several partners began construction on five custom homes in the Ventura foothills.

Jao spared no expense on the showcase homes, built on a shady cul-de-sac off Foothill Drive. But there were no takers for the first two, completed in 1991. As the market continued to sour, Jao had to stop development on the remaining three. Originally listed for $1.35 million and $1.25 million, the two completed homes are still on the market--priced at $1 million each.

“It was a crap shoot,” Jao said. “No one anticipated a downturn in real estate that fast.”

Nor is anyone anticipating an upturn, at least in the next year.

“We just don’t happen to be in good times or poised for them,” said Harvey Gandel, president of the Simi Valley Board of Realtors. “I think things are going to remain flat.

“I’m not down in the dumps about it,” he said. “But I don’t see any magic revival, either.”

That’s not what Craig and Phyllis Irwin want to hear. Median values in the Fillmore area have dropped almost 15%, leaving the couple with few options. Given the new back yard, patio and other improvements, the Irwins figured their home would sell for at least $237,000 when they first listed it last year.

Today they are asking for “anything over $200,000.” They still owe $195,000 on the home.

“We’re at the point of cutting our losses,” said Craig Irwin, a strapping man who shows few signs of his three-times-weekly dialysis sessions. “Right now I’m trapped. I can’t make a move.”

The Decline in Home Values

* Bad Market, Good Bargains: A Tale of Two Houses

Address: 658 Calle Clavel

Thousand Oaks CA 91360

Vitals: 3 BR, 1 bath,

1,200-square-foot home on a 10,000-square-foot lot Year built: 1960

Current owners: Jay and Marian Harding

Purchase price, 1989: 176,000 Purchase price, 1992: 150,000

Percent drop: 14.8 A bum market meant a new home for the Harding family.

“We had been married for seven years but never bothered to look for a home,” said Marian Harding, who with her husband, Jay, purchased their first house in May.

When the Hardings decided to look, they found the once-prohibitive prices had dropped considerably, and interest rates also were way down.

It only took three months for the couple to find their Thousand Oaks home, which had been repossesed by the bank after the previous owner defaulted on the loan.

That bad loan was the Hardings’ blessing. The bank cut its losses and sold the house for less than the loan was worth.

“No doubt about it, that’s the only reason we could afford it,” Harding said. Address: 121 Santa Paula Ave.

Oxnard CA. 93035

Vitals: 4 BR, 2 1/2 bath

1,950-square-foot house on 2,450-square-foot lot

Year built: 1973

Current owners: Gary and Diana Ross

Purchase price 1989: $376,000

Purchase price 1992: $335,000

Percent drop: 10.9 Gary and Diana Ross had been renting for several years in the Silver Strand neighborhood of Oxnard, but purchasing a home in that beachfront community seemed out of the question.

Then Gary, a housewares designer, had a good year and the market had a bad one. “I figured I just had to buy while I could,” Ross said. He found a home one block away that at one point was on the market for $440,000, his realtor told him.

The Rosses picked up the two-story beach house for $335,000.

“That makes it a little easier to write that mortgage check every month,” Ross said.

Decline in Home Values

Address: 9170 Halifax St.

Ventura, CA 93004

Vitals: 4 BR, 2 bath

1,622-square-foot house on 7,340-square-foot lot

Year built: 1966

Current owners: Gerald and Barbara Ikenouye

Purchase price 1989: $249,500

Purchase price 1992: $210,000

Percent drop: 15.8

The Ikenouyes were a little astounded with home prices when they moved to Calfornia from rural Colorado five years ago. They decided to rent and wait out the high prices.

Their patience paid off.

“Once we decided to look, it only took six weeks,” said Gerald Ikenouye. “I think we got a really good deal.”

Ikenouye said that when he started his search, buying in a neighborhood of custom homes was out of the question. But the home he wanted had decreased in value over the past three years, making his purchase possible.

“The houses in my neighborhood aren’t tract homes,” he said. “Every house has a different front. It’s a little more upscale.”

Address: 746 Galvin Lane

Fillmore, CA 93015

Vitals: 3 BR, 2 bath

1,746-square-foot home on 6,534-square-foot lot

Current owners: Sidney and Mary Stewart

Purchase price 1989: $212,000

Purchase price 1992: $204,000

Percent drop: 3.7

Sidney Stewart likes his Fillmore home so much he feels a little sheepish about the price he paid for it last March.

“If I had known it was going to be this good, I would have paid the $225,000 (the seller) was asking for it,” he said. But with the market soft, the seller was eager to take any reasonable offer.

The house boasted at least $10,000 worth of improvements since it sold in 1989 for $212,000, Stewart said. “It looks like an interior decorator lived here,” he said.

Stewart’s one-story house is located on a cul-de-sac near a neighborhood of larger homes. “It’s a prime location,” he said. “I’m 100% happy.”

Address: 1037 Woodland Ave.

Ojai, CA 93023

Vitals: 4 BR, 2 bath

2,150-square-foot home on a 11,352-square-foot lot

Year built: 1978

Current owner: William Reason

Purchase price 1989: 299,000

Purchase price 1992: 243,500

Percent drop: 18.5

Given Ojai’s modest 1.4% decline in home values, it looks as if Willam Reason got an extraordinary deal when he purchased his two-story home this June.

What he really got was a lot of work.

“The place was pretty much trashed,” Reason said. “It had been in escrow three times, but every time (the buyers) dropped it because it was too much work.”

Fortunately, Reason is a contractor. He has replastered the walls, refinished the floors and is starting on the home’s exterior. He plans to move in with his family by September.

“Once it’s done it will be worth a lot more,” Reason said, adding that he has spent at least $10,000 so far. “I consider it an investment.”

Address: 675 Watson Ave.

Simi Valley, CA 93065

Vitals: 5 BR, 2 1/2 bath,

1,958-square-foot home on a 7,300-square-foot lot

Current owners: Bill and Debra Schnieders

Year built: 1964

Purchase price 1989: 200,000

Purchase price 1992: $200,000

Percent drop: 0

At first glance it might appear that Bill and Debra Schnieders missed a good deal when they paid in 1992 what the previous owner paid in 1989.

But the couple began renting the Simi Valley home in 1989 with the option to purchase it for the same amount the owner had originally paid.

Since the previous owner had purchased the two-story home for well under market value, the couple had a built-in buffer aginst Ventura County’s roller coaster market.

“It was an excellent deal,” said Bill Schnieders, who said he likes the home’s proximity to the Simi Valley hills. “It’s a great neighborhood, good for kids.”

The home has probably increased in value, Schnieders said. “It would probably sell for at least $205,000 in today’s market,” he said. “A home across the street just sold for $218,000.”

* REAL ESTATE SECTION: Median prices for houses and condominiums for June are broken down by ZIP code. K13