County’s Home Sales Fall 8.6% in January

Sales of new and existing Ventura County homes dropped by 8.6% in January, compared to the same period last year, according to a report released Wednesday by TRW-REDI Property Data.

The analyst who published the data for the national real estate information company warned, however, against putting too much stock in one month’s sales numbers.

Overall in 1993, Ventura County had the healthiest housing market in Southern California, with 5.4% more homes selling last year than in 1992.

Because the county’s housing market is so small--only 444 homes sold countywide last month, compared to 486 homes in January, 1993--the numbers can easily be misleading, said TRW-REDI’s Nima Nattagh.

“A few transactions more or less can translate into large percentage changes,” he said.

Local realtors said the market seems to be gaining strength rapidly.

“Houses are moving,” said Tricia Onsgard, a realtor with Brown-Realtors in Westlake. “My last four listings have all sold within a week.”

Marcy Cutting, a realtor with Jon Douglas Company Realtors in Ventura, said buyers finally feel the time and prices are right to buy a home. “People are feeling that prices and interest rates are as low as they are going to get,” she said.

The average selling price of homes in Ventura County was $219,747 in January, 1994, a drop of 1.5% from the previous January. Home prices in the county dropped 1.6% to $234,381 between 1992 and 1993.