Home Sales Climbing After Yearlong Slide

After plummeting most of last year, Ventura County home sales rose steadily in the first three months of 1996, with nearly 300 more houses changing hands than during 1995’s first quarter.

From the first of January through the end of March, 2,002 homes were sold countywide, up 17.4% from the same period in 1995, according to a report released Monday by TRW-Redi Property Data.

March sales also showed a 9% jump over sales in February which, in turn, were higher than January’s numbers.

The turnaround comes as welcome news to local real estate agents, many of whom are amazed by the sudden rush of sales.

“In March, our mouths were hanging open,” said Realtor Connie Wade, whose Coldwell Banker Town & Country office in Camarillo sold 49 homes last month. “We hadn’t seen it like that in ages.”

But TRW analyst Nima Nattagh cautioned that the market’s recent gains only look impressive compared to last year’s weak sales.

“It’s an improvement over a fairly depressed housing market in the first quarter of 1995--I think that’s the most we can say about it,” he said.

The reason for the increased sales remains a mystery to some local real estate agents. During 1995, Ventura County’s economy showed real signs of health--with steady growth in the number of local jobs--but potential home buyers stayed out of the market. Even low interest rates, hovering between 7% and 7.5% for 30-year loans, failed to bring in buyers.

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Now, interest rates have jumped to 8%, and sales are increasing. Mark Schniepp, an economist at UC Santa Barbara, said home buyers may be worried that rates will climb even more.

“With the fear of interest rates and having that door close, that window [of opportunity] shut, there’s much greater incentive to get the deal out of the way,” he said.

Ray Molavi, manager of Century 21 Rolling Oaks in Thousand Oaks, said the market is also generating its own momentum, kicking hesitant shoppers off the fence. “They see the market is moving,” he said. “They’re driving around and seeing the ‘sold’ signs.”

So far, increased sales have not translated into increased home prices. The average price of homes sold in the county during March was $221,246, down $7,115 from the same period last year.

But Wade said that may change in the Camarillo area, where the number of houses on the market has been cut by the recent sales surge.

“We haven’t seen the inventory come on to replenish that, and usually when that happens, you see prices go up a little bit,” she said.

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Ventura County Home Sales

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March, 1995 March, 1996 Number Average Number Average City/ZIP code of sales price of sales price CAMARILLO 93010 52 $227,784 71 $236,607 93012 30 $302,638 35 $269,794 93066 5 $194,750 4 $195,167 FILLMORE 93015 10 $180,444 12 $144,500 MOORPARK 93021 27 $227,942 50 $245,316 OAK PARK 91301 33 $278,172 NA NA OAK VIEW 93022 7 $176,333 6 $198,000 OJAI 93023 18 $283,059 21 $248,025 OXNARD 93030 55 $185,852 81 $180,294 93033 28 $144,298 19 $148,778 93035 29 $212,214 22 $241,714 PORT HUENEME 93041 14 $140,308 14 $147,846 SANTA PAULA 93060 18 $142,588 25 $147,354 SIMI VALLEY 91307 5 $292,500 NA NA 91311 2 $167,500 NA NA 93063 53 $183,750 71 $188,136 93065 68 $212,967 72 $202,675 THOUSAND OAKS 91320 42 $243,854 48 $254,915 91360 53 $290,827 53 $246,798 91361 11 $241,200 15 $431,036 91362 54 $337,019 40 $332,423 VENTURA 93001 24 $186,413 49 $193,771 93003 36 $200,943 36 $198,629 93004 47 $207,272 35 $200,294 COUNTY LINE / CANYON AREA 90265 2 $448,000 NA NA COUNTYWIDE 701 $228,361 801 $221,248

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Source: TRW-REDI Property Data