Home Sales Jump 17% in January : Economy: Prices show first increases since 1989. Local real estate agents cheer the dramatic gains, but comments by economists are tempered.
Ventura County home sales jumped a surprising 17% in January from a year before as housing prices increased for the first time since 1989, according to a new report.
The increases reversed a year-end slide in sales and home values that was prompted by a surge in mortgage interest rates, said economists with TRW-REDI Property Data, which released the report.
“That’s a good sign. We’re excited,” Ventura real estate agent Bob Krakover said.
He attributed the increase to Los Angeles homeowners fleeing their neighborhoods for suburban Ventura County.
“I’m also seeing a lot of move-backs from people who left the state two or three years ago,” Krakover said.
But while Ventura County real estate agents cheered the dramatic gains made in home sales last month, economists’ comments were tempered.
“It is only one month,” said Nima Nattagh, of TRW-REDI. Nattagh predicted that the first quarter of this year will be disappointing.
“I will be surprised to see an increase in the first quarter,” Nattagh said. “I don’t think January’s increase is significant. My guess is that it’s a blip.”
UC Santa Barbara economist Mark Schniepp agreed.
“Talk to me in two or three months” when a trend can be established, he said. The January increase could be attributed to “a bunch of year-end stuff,” including tax considerations, Schniepp said.
“Normally, you see some strange things this time of year,” he said.
Still, area real estate agents said they were impressed with the January results.
“It is a continuation of the perception that Ventura County is a nice place to live,” said Mary Hall, president of the Conejo Valley Realtors Assn. She said she has also sold many homes to Los Angeles refugees in the last year.
According to TRW-REDI, 519 homes were sold in January, an increase of 75 over the same period last year. Some 47% of those sales were in eastern Ventura County, where only about 37% of county residents live.
The average home sold last month cost $227,458, a 3.5% increase over January, 1994, when the average home sold for $219,747.
Despite that increase, economists warn that home values remain soft in the region.
“You need to put things in perspective,” Nattagh said, noting that the average home in 1994 sold for $229,893, down from $234,381 the previous year.
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Ventura County House Sales
January, 1994 January, 1995 Number Average Number Average City/ZIP code of sales price of sales price CAMARILLO 93010 23 $222,978 31 $212,386 93012 17 $267,464 22 $364,143 93066 2 $150,500 1 $305,000 FILLMORE 93015 5 $147,500 6 $140,300 MOORPARK 93021 30 $221,867 49 $221,367 OAK VIEW 93022 2 $136,000 5 $164,500 OJAI 93023 14 $272,464 14 $249,815 OAK PARK 91301 13 $281,577 16 $308,813 91304 1 $90,000 0 -- OXNARD 93030 45 $188,536 62 $199,287 93033 21 $151,975 16 $140,833 93035 14 $189,149 17 $325,428 PORT HUENEME 93041 10 $146,400 3 $127,333 SANTA PAULA 93060 11 $168,500 13 $144,750 SIMI VALLEY 91307 3 $392,667 0 -- 91311 0 -- 0 -- 93063 23 $183,043 34 $186,531 93065 38 $216,239 52 $202,363 THOUSAND OAKS 91320 18 $213,500 15 $253,567 91360 48 $222,168 46 $222,852 91361 15 $335,133 6 $290,667 91362 16 $406,733 25 $338,260 VENTURA 93001 13 $218,231 24 $237,417 93003 46 $192,705 32 $204,919 93004 15 $211,693 30 $203,138 COUNTYWIDE *444 $219,747 519 $227,458
* The ZIP code for one house bought in Ventura County was unavailable.
Source: TRW-REDI Property Data
