38% of Home Sellers Take Losses in 2nd Quarter

More than a third of Ventura County’s home sellers took a loss during this year’s second quarter.

That’s hardly good news, but it’s still an improvement over the same period last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

For its study, DataQuick tracked escrow records of all 1,945 homes sold in the county from March through May. Thirty-eight percent of Ventura County homeowners took losses during the period, a figure that was in line with the 37% reported for Southern California as a whole.

During the second quarter last year, 58% of the homes sold in the county brought a price lower than their owners paid for them.

Donald L. Cohn, DataQuick’s chief executive, said so-called loss sales accounted for a steadily increasing portion of the market from early 1991 until September, 1993.

Statewide, 32% of home sales in the second quarter were at a loss, the reporting service said.

“Large newly built homes that were bought during the 1989-to-1993 sales surge have been particularly exposed, but the problem has spread into other categories as well,” Cohn said.

“We may find it shocking that three of 10 sellers lose money, but we need to remember that it still means most people are making money.”