County Housing Still Ranks as Expensive

Housing in Ventura County was more affordable in the third quarter of 1994 than in previous years, but still ranked among the most expensive housing markets in the nation.

The county, with a median home sale price of $190,000, ranked 152 in affordability on a list of 185 housing markets compiled by the National Assn. of Home Builders.

This was the first quarter the county has slipped off the list of the nation’s 25 least affordable housing markets, association officials said. The median sale price of a home in the county has dropped steadily--from $203,000 in 1993 and $226,000 in 1992.

In the association’s rankings for the third quarter of 1994, San Francisco ranked as the least affordable market in the country.

The median cost of a home there was $285,000.

The most affordable market in the country was Lima, Ohio, according to the study. Homes there averaged $60,000.