County Foreclosures Dropped 18% in 1995

For the first time in six years, the annual number of real estate foreclosures in Ventura County has dropped.

During 1995, 1,350 properties throughout the county fell into foreclosure, down 18.4% from a record 1,654 in 1994, according to TRW REDI Property Data.

Nima Nattagh, a market research analyst for TRW, said the long-awaited reversal shows the increasing strength of Southern California’s economic recovery.

“It’s really reflective of the improvements we’ve seen in the economy in the last two years, whereby more people are able to keep paying off the mortgage,” he said.

The number of foreclosures in Ventura County had risen steadily since 1989, when lenders foreclosed on just 57 properties, Nattagh said.

The foreclosed properties, usually sold at deep discount, have acted as an anchor on the Southern California real estate market, dragging down home prices. The average home price in Ventura County was $230,296 in 1995. Nattagh said the declining foreclosure rate will help stabilize home values.

“There will be less downward pressure on prices,” he said.

Although some other counties in the Southland saw their foreclosures decline, none experienced as dramatic an improvement as Ventura. In San Bernardino, San Diego and Los Angeles counties, the number of foreclosures increased.

Countywide, the Fillmore-Piru area experienced the fewest foreclosures last year--25. It was also, however, the only area where the number of foreclosures increased from 1994 to 1995.

The largest number of foreclosures, 353, was in the Oxnard-Port Hueneme area. But that figure represents a 16.5% drop from the previous year.