Countywide : County Home Sales Up, Bucking Trend

Ventura was the only county in Southern California to register an increase in home sales for the first quarter of this year, according to figures released Wednesday.

Across the county, 1,612 homes were sold, compared with 1,587 a year ago, a rise of 1.6%, according to a report prepared by TRW Redi Property Data, which monitors transactions from public records.

About 35,000 homes were purchased in Southern California during the first three months of this year, a drop of more than 4% compared to the first quarter of 1992.

Los Angeles County saw a 5.9% decline and Orange County sales fell 11.7%.

County real estate brokers “have seen a little bit of erosion in our inventory,” said Chuck Adelseck of Century 21 County Center in Ventura.

But brokers don’t understand why sales have risen here and fallen elsewhere in Southern California.

Adelseck speculated that last year’s riots in Los Angeles might have something to do with it.

Although the riots occurred a year ago, “People in L. A. had a hard time selling their homes so it didn’t have an immediate effect on us,” he said. “Now we’re seeing a gradual influx.”

Despite the increase in sales, home prices continue to drop in Ventura County, where the average price of a single-family home fell 3.7%, from $237,066 a year ago to $228,254.

The average market time is 111 days.

Southern California home prices fell 4.4%, with the greatest decline, 5.5%, occurring in Riverside County.

“Prices are still significantly soft,” said Don Cutler, a broker at Ojai Village Brokers.

“We have a high inventory and a fairly substantial number of sellers intent on selling who are willing to accept lower prices.”

Adelseck was encouraged by the recent figures.

“We haven’t bottomed out yet,” he said, “but we may be nearing the bottom by the end of the year.”