Upswing in Home Sales Bucks Regional Trend

An upswing in sales of new homes in January helped Ventura County buck a downtrend in Southern California’s housing market.

Home sales in the Southland last month were off more than 7% from a year ago, but Ventura County had the strongest market in the region, with a year-to-year increase of nearly 24%, according to Dataquick Information Systems.

A total of 585 houses and condominiums changed hands in the county last month, up from 473 a year ago.

John Karevoll, a Dataquick analyst, attributes much of the strong showing to a boomlet in newly built homes. He notes that 128 new units were sold in the county last month, compared with only 47 in January, 1994.

“The Ventura County market was quite weak a year ago,” Karevoll said. “That, plus a stronger economy this year, produced the year-to-year improvement.”

Recent sales were also helped by continued soft prices, he added. The median sale price in the county in January was $181,000, down nearly 4% from $188,000 a year ago.