County Home Sales Reach a 10-Year High

Home buyers snapped up more Ventura County homes last month than they had in any October for a decade, continuing a robust trend seen throughout the year.

The 1,312 homes purchased last month are the most since 1,495 were bought countywide in 1988, at the heady peak of the last hot housing market, said John Karevoll, an analyst with La Jolla-based research firm Acxiom/DataQuick.

Monthly home sales this year have repeatedly hit highs not seen since the late 1980s.

In October, sales of new and existing houses and condominiums rose 18% over the same month last year, according to a report on housing sales released Friday.

The report provides more proof that the strong local housing market shows no sign of subsiding and that fears of a slowing economy because of the spreading Asian economic crisis have yet to surface locally, Karevoll said.

“There may be a bit more perception than reality to those concerns,” he said.

Indeed, together with a positive unemployment rate report also released Friday, the housing figures suggest the local economy may be “inoculated” to some degree from the economic woes afflicting the rest of the world, said Mark Schniepp, a Santa Barbara-based economist who tracks the Ventura County economy.

There are relatively few local high-technology and semiconductor companies, whose exports have been dramatically affected by economic events oversees.

“I think it’s amazing we have not noticed a slowdown yet,” Schniepp said. “The very strong job demand is significantly responsible for the very strong housing market.”

Housing analysts also are encouraged by the market’s broad-based strength. No segments, from entry-level homes to expensive prestige dwellings, exhibited signs of weakness.

Prices are increasing modestly, so buyers aren’t being stretched by onerous monthly payments.

October’s median home price--meaning half the homes sold for less than the figure and half for more--hit $216,000, an increase of 8% over the $200,000 registered in October 1997.

“The market has a lot of legs to stand on,” Karevoll said. “There’s nothing ominous here. There’s nothing here that is a flashing red light.”

A healthy economy was among the reasons homemaker Teresa White of Santa Paula was sitting in the office of Cal-West Real Estate on Friday, thinking about entering the market.

White and her husband, a sales representative for a beer distributing company, said the couple were looking at buying a lot on which they plan to build their first home.

“It’s a good time to do it--low [interest] rates,” she said. “It’s a good time for us.”

Ventura County’s rosy housing market contrasted sharply with Los Angeles and Orange counties, where home sales declined compared to October 1997.

Karevoll attributed those dips to recent turbulence on Wall Street that has affected the pocketbooks of buyers of more expensive homes.

However, Ventura County has remain unaffected because it has more affordable housing, stronger market growth and a differing labor market, analysts said.

Although experts caution against drawing too many conclusions from housing sales in particular ZIP Codes because of the relatively small statistical sampling and localized shifts in buying patterns, home sales rose last month even in the 91361 ZIP Code, which includes upscale Lake Sherwood and parts of the Westlake section of Thousand Oaks.

That area, which has the county’s highest median home price at $332,000, also saw a 143% leap in sales, the second largest increase in the county.

Fillmore had the biggest increase with home sales tripling last month compared to the same month the year before.

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Ventura County House Sales

October 1997

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Number Median City/ZIP Code of sales price CAMARILLO 93010 82 $210,000 93012 73 $218,000 FILLMORE 93015 7 $130,000 MOORPARK 93021 82 $219,000 OAK PARK 91301 51 $276,000 OAK VIEW 93022 9 $185,000 OJAI 93023 33 $203,000 OXNARD 93030 81 $170,000 93033 49 $135,000 93035 61 $266,000 PORT HUENEME 93041 36 $126,000 SANTA PAULA 93060 19 $158,000 SIMI VALLEY 93063 71 $175,000 93065 97 $195,000 THOUSAND OAKS 91320 63 $232,000 91360 66 $226,000 91361 14 $241,000 91362 84 $286,000 VENTURA 93001 41 $260,000 93003 67 $163,000 93004 32 $180,000 COUNTY LINE / CANYON AREA 90265 -- -- COUNTYWIDE 1,115 $200,000

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October 1998

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Number Median City/ZIP Code of sales price CAMARILLO 93010 76 $234,000 93012 50 $259,000 FILLMORE 93015 22 $145,000 MOORPARK 93021 54 $238,000 OAK PARK 91301 43 $329,000 OAK VIEW 93022 13 $170,000 OJAI 93023 39 $188,000 OXNARD 93030 101 $181,000 93033 50 $146,000 93035 54 $229,000 PORT HUENEME 93041 39 $135,000 SANTA PAULA 93060 27 $147,000 SIMI VALLEY 93063 99 $216,000 93065 190 $204,000 THOUSAND OAKS 91320 102 $267,000 91360 79 $232,000 91361 14 $332,000 91362 103 $300,000 VENTURA 93001 38 $166,000 93003 60 $161,000 93004 39 $219,000 COUNTY LINE / CANYON AREA 90265 2 $199,500 COUNTYWIDE 1,312 $216,000

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Source: Acxiom / DataQuick