February Home Sales Dip, but Outlook Remains Good
The number of homes sold in Ventura County dropped in February, but with prices rising and activity recorded in different price brackets, analysts say the residential real estate market continues to climb out of recession.
Sales of new and existing homes and condominiums numbered 647 last month, a 6.5% decrease from the same period last year, when the countywide total was 692.
The median home price rose 3.2%, from $186,000 to $192,000, according to La Jolla real estate research firm Acxiom/DataQuick.
Overall, the numbers indicate the residential real estate recovery that began about a year and a half ago still has momentum, said John Karevoll, an Acxiom/DataQuick analyst.
“For all practical purposes, we’re at the same [sales] level that we were at a year ago,” Karevoll said, noting that the February 1996 home sales figures reflected the busiest Ventura County real estate market in five years. “That’s a strong market.”
Karevoll said last month’s decline in home sales can in part be attributed to the fact that there was an extra business day in 1996’s leap year February. Moreover, Karevoll said, the median home price is being pulled up by an increase in sales of “move-up” and “prestige” homes.
“The market three years ago, five years ago, was uneven,” Karevoll said, explaining that during the recession, home sales consisted largely of lower-priced, entry-level homes. “There were parts of the market that were dead in the water.”
In the current market, Karevoll said, “we see activity across the board,” from homes priced at entry level to expensive luxury houses.
“There are actually homes [in Ventura County] selling for a half a million dollars,” Karevoll said. “Not a lot, but enough to pull [the median price] up.”
The Acxiom/DataQuick report released Tuesday shows that home sales in eastern Ventura County appear to have outpaced those in west county.
Home sales in Thousand Oaks rose to 155 from 149 one year ago. Neighboring Simi Valley saw home sales fall to 117 from 121 a year ago. In Moorpark, 36 homes were sold in February, as compared with 39 in 1996.
Both Ventura and Oxnard saw decreased home sales. Last month, 77 homes were sold in Ventura, compared with 91 in February 1996. In Oxnard, home sales totaled 99 last month, compared with 124 in the same period during 1996.
In Camarillo, home sales edged up from 78 in February 1996 to 83 last month.
UC Santa Barbara economist Mark Schniepp said that home sales figures so far this year indicate the real estate recovery continues at a healthy, though moderate, pace.
“We’re progressing at the same rate as last year, which was a pretty healthy market,” Schniepp said. “Not spectacular, not runaway, but not floundering . . . good, healthy [sales] numbers with prices rising slightly.”
Low interest rates continue to favor prospective home buyers, said Mary Hall of ReMax Professional Realtors in Thousand Oaks.
“These are excellent, excellent interest rates . . . the best in years,” said Hall, noting that annual interest rates for a 30-year mortgage are less than 8%. “As long as rates don’t take a big jump up . . . I think overall we’re going to have” higher home sales figures in 1997. “A month here or there that dips doesn’t mean anything.”
Judy Hoag of Paris and Associates Real Estate in Ventura said that housing inventories remain low and that Ventura County’s reputation as a desirable place to live continues to attract families to the area.
“If the properties are priced right, they sell quickly,” Hoag said. “There’s a lot of buyers and a lot of activity.”
Properties that were foreclosed upon during the recession continue to make up a large part of the Ventura County housing market, said Ali Akbari, director of the Economic Research Center at Cal Lutheran University. He said that sales of foreclosed homes at low prices have had a “dampening effect” on the county’s median home price.
Still, Akbari said, housing trends are headed in the right direction. He called last month’s dip in Ventura County home sales an aberration.
“The pattern that has developed has been of more homes being sold . . . all in all, it’s a very positive pattern.”
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Ventura County House Sales
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Month,1994 Month,1995 Number Average Number Average City/ZIP Code of sales price of sales price CAMARILLO 93010 37 $184,000 56 $240,000 93012 41 $202,000 27 $205,000 FILLMORE 93015 7 $152,000 6 $139,000 MOORPARK 93021 39 $220,000 36 $218,000 OAK PARK 91301 29 $161,000 17 $202,000 OAK VIEW 93022 NA $NA 7 $263,000 OJAI 93023 12 $147,000 17 $173,000 OXNARD 93030 62 $171,000 50 $178,000 93033 33 $132,000 29 $121,000 93035 29 $184,000 20 $213,000 PORT HUENEME 93041 19 $146,000 22 $121,000 SANTA PAULA 93060 20 $153,000 11 $123,000 SIMI VALLEY 93063 61 $173,000 50 $168,000 93065 60 $176,000 67 $167,000 THOUSAND OAKS 91320 48 $218,000 35 $220,000 91360 44 $220,000 55 $223,000 91361 14 $283,000 13 $295,000 91362 43 $269,000 52 $254,000 VENTURA 93001 17 $130,000 20 $166,000 93003 41 $169,000 33 $154,000 93004 33 $209,000 24 $185,000 COUNTY LINE / CANYON AREA 90265 -- -- 2 $199,500 COUNTYWIDE 692 $186,000 647 $192,000
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Source: Acxiom/DataQuick
