Home Sales Expected to Bounce Back by ’95

Both commercial and residential brokers feel the county’s real estate market will come back from a near standstill that followed the quake.

“Some changes may have to be made in the terms of home sales that are in escrow,” said Stephanie Schieltz, general manager of the five countywide offices of Coldwell Banker Town & Country.

“Lenders in the east county are demanding new inspections before escrows close. If there’s damage, it will be up to the seller to have it repaired.” Some prices may be renegotiated, she said.

Schieltz, whose offices employ 200 agents, said Coldwell had 300 deals in escrow when the earthquake hit. She expects a large majority to go through with the transactions anyway.

“Our offices in Camarillo and Ventura are doing well and should continue to do so. Newbury Park is doing all right, too. In Thousand Oaks, cracks developed in some houses, and that could affect sales and closings. The worst problems are in eastern Simi Valley. “

Schieltz predicted that the east county’s real estate market will bounce back in a manner reminiscent of the San Fernando Valley’s resurgence following the 1971 Sylmar quake.

But the big surge in sales won’t come until 1995, she suggested.

Rick Newton, commercial marketing director for First American Title Insurance Co. in Oxnard, predicted that the disaster will accelerate the migration to Ventura County of businesses from the Valley and other parts of Los Angeles.

Within two days of the quake, a commercial agent in Ventura county received an inquiry from a Valley firm seeking a 40,000-square-foot plant, Newton reported.

Incidentally, the quake caused postponement of the forthcoming Ventura County Real Estate Forum from Feb. 3 to Feb. 24.

Newton, who is co-chairman of the commercial panel, explained: “We expect people to be coming from L.A. They’ll need time to regroup.”