County Home Sales, Median Price Drop in Month Despite Low Rates

Ventura County’s housing market softened last month in comparison to the same period last year, according to real estate statistics released Wednesday.

But Realtors say overall sales this year have been strong, thanks to low interest rates and bargain prices.

Sales of new and existing homes and condos fell by 4.9% in November as 882 homes were sold, down from 927 in the same month last year. The lower countywide sales came despite a 3.6% drop in the median price of a home--from $193,000 a year ago to $186,000 last month, according to figures compiled by Acxiom/DataQuick.

One analyst said the report confirms that the Ventura County housing market remains wary of risk.

“In spite of the lower mortgage rates, you don’t see the momentum you would expect to see at this point,” said professor Ali Akbari, who teaches economics at Cal Lutheran University. “You see in many [other] areas that the number of homes sold has increased.

“In spite of such good news, the median price has dropped, which indicates there is a glut--a major oversupply of homes on the market [because of] the number of foreclosures and bankruptcies,” he added. “And it takes time for this glut or oversupply to be cleared.”

The housing report shows that sales in some western Ventura County cities seemed to outpace those in the east county, where home sales are traditionally stronger.

Home sales in Oxnard rose from 113 in November 1995 to 151 last month and neighboring Camarillo saw its sales increase from 82 last year to 101 in November. Port Hueneme Realtors recorded a rise from 23 homes sold in November 1995 to 35 in November 1996.

In Ventura, however, sales dipped sharply last month to 99 from 131 in November 1995.

The results were more disappointing in the east county. Moorpark’s sales rose from 59 in November 1995 to 70 last month, the DataQuick report shows. Yet in the same period, Simi Valley sales fell from 216 to 202, and Thousand Oaks sales dropped from 221 to 197.

But Realtors and analysts alike scoffed at the report, saying it is too narrow a slice of time to gauge long-term market trends.

“With this very limited kind of information, you really can’t jump to too many conclusions,” said Ernest Siracusa, a Westlake Village realty market consultant who analyzes homes sales.

“I survey all the new housing projects, and I’ve found the eastern county to be stronger than the western county,” he said.

And Ventura Realtor Bobbi Courselle called the Ventura sales dip recorded by DataQuick “an aberration.”

“A month isn’t a good enough statistic for anything,” said Courselle, president of the Ventura Assn. of Realtors.

“I’ve had a better year, most people I know have had a better year,” she said. “In October, in one two-week period, we sold 118 homes [in Ventura]. In that same two-week period, Oxnard sold 60.”

CLU economist Akbari said that defense industry layoffs still haunt the county’s housing market.

“You don’t rush to sign the escrow papers just because the interest rates are low,” he said. “You’ve got to have security. Real estate is a long-run investment. You’ve got to make sure you will be able to pay those mortgages.”

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Ventura County Home Sales

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November, 1995 November, 1996 Number Average Number Average City/ZIP Code of sales price of sales price CAMARILLO 93010 38 $186,000 46 $183,000 93012 44 $206,000 55 $204,000 FILLMORE 93015 9 $141,000 10 $149,000 MOORPARK 93021 59 $221,000 70 $182,000 OAK PARK 91301 26 $200,000 13 $226,000 OAK VIEW 93022 8 $170,000 4 $n/a OJAI 93023 20 $202,000 15 $196,000 OXNARD 93030 41 $181,000 76 $179,000 93033 34 $135,000 38 $131,000 93035 38 $166,000 37 $166,000 PORT HUENEME 93041 23 $118,000 35 $ 95,000 SANTA PAULA 93060 20 $155,000 21 $125,000 SIMI VALLEY 93063 100 $176,000 93 $177,000 93065 115 $188,000 109 $181,000 THOUSAND OAKS 91320 36 $212,000 68 $222,000 91360 68 $231,000 66 $222,000 91361 27 $260,000 12 $232,000 91362 90 $254,000 51 $276,000 VENTURA 93001 23 $169,000 29 $244,000 93003 44 $164,000 47 $164,000 93004 64 $206,000 23 $174,000 COUNTYWIDE 927 $193,000 882 $186,000

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Source: Acxiom/DataQuick