Home Sales in County Jump 22.6%

Ventura County’s monthly home sales jumped 22.6% in May over the same period last year, the highest gain of the decade.

Countywide, 1,312 homes were sold last month, contrasted with 1,070 the previous year. The median price rose 6.5%--to $213,000--from last year’s $200,000.

If the trend continues, researchers say, the surge could sometime this fall send home prices near the peaks of the late 1980s. In March 1989, the number of homes sold reached 1,597 and the median home price was $241,000.

The figures, compiled by the La Jolla-based research firm Acxiom/DataQuick, cover new and resale homes, as well as condominiums.

While the surge shows the county’s housing market is bouncing back from the economic downturn of the early 1990s, it does not mean the market is sizzling, researchers say.

“There is no sign of a frenzy,” said John Karevoll, who compiled the numbers for DataQuick. “There are those who would like to call the market hot. But there are no signs that people are stretching their finances to buy.

“The fact is, we’re still just regaining ground lost during the recession,” he said.

Still, some local real estate agents say the market has turned around.

“I’ve been tremendously busy,” said Joe Gallegos, owner of Pierpont Bay Realty, which opened in Ventura 21 years ago. “We’re probably going to run out of inventory fairly soon. It’s more of a seller’s market now. Even a year ago, it was still a buyer’s market.”

Gallegos was also encouraged by Orange County’s recent record-breaking spurt. There, median home prices rose to an all-time high of $226,000 in May, eclipsing even the county’s pre-recession peak. Agents there sold 4,507 homes last month, a 25% increase over the same period last year.

“Ventura is just getting started,” Gallegos said. “Its peak is a long way away. But in order to catch up with Orange County, we need to get higher-income people here, we need to get the high-paying industries.”

In Los Angeles County, the housing market also continued to show marked improvement in May, with the median price for homes rising 9.9% to $189,00. The number of homes sold in May in Los Angeles County rose 9.7% from the same month last year, to 9,387 properties.

In Ventura County last month, the most dramatic increase in the number of homes sold--155.6%--occurred in and near Hollywood Beach in Oxnard. There, 69 homes were sold in May, contrasted with 27 the same month last year. The median price dropped in that area by 8.3%, from $217,000 in May 1997 to $199,000 last month.

In downtown Ventura, the number of homes sold dropped from 38 to 35, or 7.9%, but the median priced surged 38.8%, from $147,000 to $204,000.

In Camarillo, east of the Ventura Freeway, 94 homes were sold in May, contrasted with 77 the same month last year, for a 22.1% percent increase. There, the median price decreased 5.8%, from $223,000 last year to $210,000 in May.

In Camarillo west of the Ventura Freeway, 82 homes were sold in May, contrasted with 66 the same month last year. Homes there also posted the same 5.8% median price drop, from $224,000 to $211,000.

The city of Fillmore reported a 36.4% increase in the number of homes sold, from 11 in May 1997 to 15 last month. The median price increased by 30%--from $160,000 to $208,000.

In Ojai, 35 homes were sold last month, contrasted with 29 in May the previous year, a 20.7% increase. The median price of homes rose 17.8%, from $185,000 to $218,000.

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Ventura County House Sales

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May, 1997 May, 1998 Number Average Number Average City/ZIP Code of sales price of sales price CAMARILLO 93010 77 $223,000 94 $210,000 93012 66 $224,000 82 $211,000 FILLMORE 93015 11 $160,000 15 $208,000 MOORPARK 93021 62 $219,000 58 $232,000 OAK PARK 91301 32 $276,000 53 $346,000 OAK VIEW 93022 13 $161,000 10 $189,000 OJAI 93023 29 $185,000 35 $218,000 OXNARD 93030 71 $164,000 63 $160,000 93033 34 $130,000 45 $132,000 93035 27 $217,000 69 $199,000 PORT HUENEME 93041 31 $110,000 41 $144,000 SANTA PAULA 93060 20 $147,000 15 $147,000 SIMI VALLEY 93063 86 $175,000 117 $188,000 93065 121 $184,000 160 $195,000 THOUSAND OAKS 91320 70 $247,000 84 $252,000 91360 78 $214,000 87 $248,000 91361 19 $262,000 30 $352,000 91362 104 $306,000 100 $308,000 VENTURA 93001 38 $147,000 35 $204,000 93003 49 $156,000 82 $169,000 93004 32 $177,000 37 $188,000 COUNTY LINE / CANYON AREA 90265 -- -- 2 $199,500 COUNTYWIDE *1,070 $200,000 1,312 $213,000

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Source: Acxiom / DataQuick Information Systems