County Home Sales Gaining Momentum
Ventura County home sales climbed again last month as the local real estate recovery that began early last year continued to strengthen.
Sales of new homes rose 10% in January compared to the same period in 1996, according to statistics released Monday by Acxiom/Dataquick Information Systems, a real estate research firm. The rise in sales was accompanied by a 4.7% increase in the median home price.
The figures, which followed an 8% increase in December, indicate the local real estate recovery that began about a year ago continues, said Mark Schniepp, a UC Santa Barbara economist who tracks the Ventura County economy.
“That’s healthy news for Ventura County. It does show that there continues to be housing demand,” Schniepp said. “The momentum is continuing.”
Overall, 672 homes were sold last month, compared with 611 in January 1996, while the median price of the homes sold increased from $191,000 to $200,000. The figures include new and resold homes and condominiums.
The local housing market has reached the point where mid-sized, so-called “move-up,” homes are selling, said John Karevoll, an analyst with Acxiom/Dataquick, located in La Jolla.
“There are two things happening here,” Karevoll said. “There’s a sustained and long-term increase in the number of homes sold. We’re back up to where we were six or seven years ago, in terms of volume. What’s also happening is that other parts of the market are now coming back on line.”
Karevoll said real estate salespeople in Ventura County are beginning to sell more homes in the $250,000-$400,000 range--which average 1,800 to 2,600 square feet in size--a part of the housing market that was stagnant during the recession. He said the rise in median home prices can be attributed, in part, to increased sales of larger, more expensive homes.
Increased sales activity was reported throughout the county, although a steep drop in the number of sales--from 34 to 11--was reported in the 93004 ZIP code, which covers east Ventura and Saticoy. Karevoll said that area likely had an unusually high number of new home sales last year.
Home sales in the three biggest cities of eastern Ventura County led those in the western end of the county. For example, 14 additional homes were sold in Thousand Oaks in January compared to the same month last year, while sales in Ventura fell by 26 homes.
The overall countywide figures are encouraging, Karevoll said, pointing to a nearly 40% surge in sales and median home prices in Moorpark that was driven by a jump in new home purchases.
But at least one analyst said the January housing numbers should not be celebrated too quickly. Ali Akbari, who teaches economics at Cal Lutheran University, called the 4.7% median price increase “modest,” and predicted it could take another year before home prices climb significantly.
Akbari said nearly a third of the 10,700 homes sold in the county last year were the result of foreclosures. This “flood of foreclosures” needs to be cleared before home prices can rise more rapidly, he said.
In addition, Akbari said workers in the area are still not seeing significant wage increases and are continuing to feel the psychological effects of the recession. Those factors have tended to offset mortgage rates, which are currently below 8%, and a declining unemployment rate, he said. “We’re still trying to regain consumer confidence,” Akbari said.
Judy Hoag of Paris and Associates, a real estate firm in Ventura, said that, along with sales of homes costing more than $300,000, investors have been seeking duplexes as rental properties. “That part of the housing market has been dead for a long time,” Hoag said. “I’m starting to see it move.”
The January sales increase is especially encouraging given that the holiday months are traditionally slow for home sales, said George Hutchison of Fred Sands Brown Realtors in Westlake Village.
Correspondent David R. Baker contributed to this report.
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Ventura County House Sales
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Month, 1996 Month, 1997 Number Average Number Average City/ZIP code of sales price of sales price CAMARILLO 93010 34 $176,000 37 $203,000 93012 41 $203,000 48 $207,000 FILLMORE 93015 9 $135,000 8 $139,000 MOORPARK 93021 38 $192,000 53 $268,000 OAK PARK 91301 20 $250,000 19 $250,000 OAK VIEW 93022 6 $173,000 5 $169,000 OJAI 93023 12 $209,000 12 $220,000 OXNARD 93030 41 $180,000 41 $159,000 93033 27 $118,000 37 $125,000 93035 23 $181,000 25 $154,000 PORT HUENEME 93041 15 $105,000 17 $118,000 SANTA PAULA 93060 15 $125,000 14 $125,000 SIMI VALLEY 93063 42 $174,000 54 $186,000 93065 53 $199,000 79 $232,000 THOUSAND OAKS 91320 32 $182,000 27 $216,000 91360 45 $220,000 38 $205,000 91361 12 $265,000 14 $261,000 91362 46 $251,000 70 $239,000 VENTURA 93001 23 $152,000 23 $183,000 93003 43 $160,000 40 $184,000 93004 34 $190,000 11 $180,000 COUNTYWIDE 611 $191,000 672 $200,000
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Source: DataQuick/Acxiom
