Countywide : Home Sales Drop 6.3% From Year Ago

Home sales in Ventura County dipped 6.3% over the first nine months of 1992 compared to a year ago, a private tracking company reported Thursday.

TRW REDI Property Data, which monitors real estate transactions across Southern California, reported that 6,254 homes were sold in the county from January to September, compared to 6,678 over the same period last year.

Of six counties charted by the company, only San Diego, which experienced a 5.9% dip, fared better than Ventura.

Calculations for all of Southern California showed a 14% sales drop over the period. “There is a sharp decline in the demand for homes across all of the counties in Southern California,” said Nima Nattagh, market research analyst with the company. “At the same time, we’re seeing a slight shift in favor of the lower-priced homes, under $175,000.”

In fact, 49% of the 137,481 homes sold in Southern California during the period cost less than $175,000, compared to 47% over the same period last year.

Ventura County was the only county where lower prices didn’t prevail, as average home prices rose 3.5%, from $261,585 to $270,714, between September, 1991, and September of this year.

Nattagh said that, with sales soft throughout the region, it is surprising that prices haven’t fallen more.