March Home Sales Drop by 22% in Ventura County : Real estate: Economist says higher interest rates caused decline in transactions compared to last year. Average price holds steady.
With higher interest rates dragging down a recovering economy, Ventura County home sales in March dropped more than 22% from a year earlier, a recently released report shows.
Also, home sales through the first three months of this year were 9.6% slower than the first three months of 1994, the TRW-REDI report says.
The report shows 1,724 homes were sold in the first quarter, down from 1,907 homes in the same period in 1994. The report also says the number of homes sold last month--719--dropped significantly from the previous March, when 925 homes sold.
TRW-REDI economist Nima Nattagh blamed the declines on the Federal Reserve Board raising interest rates and the slowing of the fast-paced recovery the economy experienced late last year.
Cities throughout Ventura County posted drops in home sales during March, 1995, compared to the previous March. But Thousand Oaks saw a drop of 29 when it recorded 156 homes closing escrow in March, 1995. Ventura paced western Ventura County, as 107 homes closed escrow last month, down from 128 the previous March.
Despite the bad housing news, Nattagh said Ventura County is faring better than the rest of Southern California’s housing market. The Southland’s six counties posted a combined 16% drop in homes sold between January and March this year.
Nattagh also said the home-buying season begins in April and May and that he expects the industry to pick up by late summer.
“Let’s wait until the second-quarter numbers come out to call it a trend,” he said.
Still, the decline in housing sales is a strong indication that the Fed’s efforts to stave off inflation and cool the economy with higher interest rates is working, Nattagh said. The higher rates, he said, are not deterring first-time buyers as much as they are affecting affluent homeowners ready to move to a more expensive house.
“Higher mortgage rates are having more of a negative impact on the move-up market,” he said. The average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is 8.79% compared to 7.3% a year ago, Nattagh said.
But the report did hold some good news for home sellers. The average price of a home sold in Ventura County held steady.
“I have seen a firming in price,” said Ventura-based agent Robert Freeny. “Sellers aren’t letting their homes go for too much under the original asking price.”
The average home sold for $226,250 in Ventura County during the first three months of this year. That represents a 0.2% increase over the first three months of 1994. It is the first increase in home prices since 1990, Nattagh said. Ventura County was the only Southern California county to post a gain in the average home price.
Nattagh said Ventura and Los Angeles counties are posting better numbers than Orange and San Diego counties, but he could not give a reason.
Nattagh also said that lower-end homes continue to sell at a brisk pace while the top end of the market has cooled.
Freeny agreed with Nattagh’s analysis that more first-time home buyers are entering the market.
“I’m selling mostly homes under $200,000 these days,” he said. “I’m busy.”
Ventura County House Sales
March, 1994 March, 1995 Number Average Number Average City/ZIP code of sales price of sales price CAMARILLO 93010 55 $217,269 51 $227,784 93012 46 $280,581 30 $302,638 93066 6 $308,600 4 $194,750 FILLMORE 93015 17 $152,118 9 $180,444 MOORPARK 93021 53 $231,577 26 $227,952 OAK VIEW 93022 10 $173,938 6 $176,333 OJAI 93023 31 $225,466 17 $283,059 OAK PARK 91301 46 $266,965 32 $278,172 OXNARD 93030 78 $184,542 56 $185,852 93033 29 $146,827 29 $144,296 93035 54 $221,286 29 $212,214 PORT HUENEME 93040 1 $85,000 1 $125,000 93041 23 $149,409 14 $140,308 SANTA PAULA 93060 26 $148,875 17 $142,588 SIMI VALLEY 91307 4 $468,500 4 $292,500 91311 0 -- 1 $167,500 93063 58 $189,149 57 $183,750 93065 74 $199,653 71 $212,967 THOUSAND OAKS 91320 50 $231,710 41 $243,854 91360 65 $215,635 52 $290,827 91361 19 $306,661 10 $241,200 91362 51 $392,610 53 $337,019 VENTURA 93001 39 $233,667 25 $186,413 93003 41 $184,336 36 $200,943 93004 48 $213,340 46 $207,272 COUNTYWIDE* 925 $223,871 719 $228,361
* The ZIP codes for two houses bought in Ventura County were unavailable.
Source: TRW-REDI Property Data
