County Home Sales and Prices Take Dip in July

A recent increase in mortgage rates helped drive down home sales in Ventura County by more than 5% in July and is also being blamed for a moderate dip in the median home price, analysts said.

Last month, a total of 1,577 homes were sold in the county, down from the decade-high total of 1,662 sold in July 1998, according to a report released Monday.

The median price, which soared to an all-time high of $244,000 in June, fell to just $230,000 last month.

The median represents the price at which half the homes sold for less and half for more.

At fault, analysts believe, are rising mortgage rates, which now stand between 8% and 8.5%.

“A rise in mortgage rates makes people take pause,” said analyst John Karevoll of Acxion/DataQuick, which released the report. “They tend to hold off on buying a home, which slows the market, and then we usually see it start to pick up again.”

Of the county’s 21 ZIP Codes, 14 posted a drop in sales activity last month compared with the same period a year before.

The most dramatic dip occurred in Oxnard’s 93033 ZIP Code, where sales fell nearly 33%, with just 45 homes sold.

Median selling price in that area, however, inched up more than 6% to $150,000.

Sales in Thousand Oaks also fell last month.

In that city’s 91362 ZIP Code--usually a hotbed of real estate activity--sales fell by more than 28%. Just 101 homes were sold there, at a median price of $331,000.

Home sales in the city’s 91361 ZIP Code fell 21%, with the sale of 33 properties, yet the median price there bolted up more than 31% to $400,000

Sales in Simi Valley were also slower last month when compared with the same period a year before.

In the city’s 93063 ZIP Code, sales tapered off by more than 18%. Median price, however, increased 30% to $254,000.

Cities that experienced the most frenzied sales activity last month include Port Hueneme and Ventura.

Port Hueneme posted a 53% increase in sales last month, with the median price climbing a solid 12% to $153,000.

In Ventura’s 93003 ZIP Code sales ballooned by 60%, but the median price fell nearly 8% to $182,000.

Despite the less than perfect picture coming out of the month’s real estate synopsis, analysts and Realtors believe the situation to be short-lived.

Karevoll said that economic factors such as income, consumer confidence and available financing are still strong and should help the county’s real estate market to show the kind of heated activity it has demonstrated through most of the year.

“It’s a temporary phenomenon,” he said. “I expect those numbers to pick up by September.”

Pat Patterson, president of the Ventura County Coastal Assn. of Realtors, agreed, saying these kinds of dips are common and not to read too much into the numbers.

“Prices are still good and interest rates are still pretty low, so there’s still an incentive out there for people to buy,” he said.