County’s January Home Sales Surge

After a dismal 1995, Ventura County home sales surged during the first month of 1996, rising 7.5% over sales levels a year before.

In January, 558 homes were sold throughout the county, up 39 from the same time last year, according to a study released Thursday by TRW-REDI Property Data. The average price of homes sold during the month also rose, from $227,458 in January 1995 to $230,388 last month.

“There’s a tremendous amount of activity with buyers,” said Debbie Rodgers Teasley with Coldwell Banker Town & Country, Moorpark.

She said sales should continue to grow. “The market will improve because people are gaining confidence in the economy,” she said.

January’s market upswing was apparent throughout the county. In Thousand Oaks, sales rose 29% from the same period last year, with 119 homes sold during January. Home sales also increased slightly in Ventura, from 86 in January 1995 to 88 last month.

But Nima Nattagh, a market research analyst with TRW, said that despite January’s promising results he did not expect sales levels to change significantly during the year.

“It might fluctuate five or six percent,” he said. “We’re pretty much at the level where Southern California’s economy can sustain it.”

He said home prices seem to have stabilized after falling for years.

“But I would add that prices are still soft,” he said. “They certainly aren’t going to outperform the inflation rate.”