Home Sales Continue Rise in January

Coming off its most successful year in a decade, Ventura County’s residential real estate market continued to post gains through the first month of 1999, with modest increases in both sales and median price.

In January, a total of 773 homes were sold in the county--up 3.3% from January 1998, according to a report released Thursday by a La Jolla-based research firm.

Similarly, median prices increased 7.5%, to $228,000 from the same period the year before.

The figures include new and resale homes as well as condominiums.

“We’re coming off a year of tremendous growth, and there’s still a lot of solid growth and activity,” said John Karevoll, an analyst at Acxiom/DataQuick Information Systems, which prepared the report. “All the indicators are still in place for another strong year.”

Although January’s sales figures were less robust than in December, when 1,276 homes were sold at a median price of $231,000, Karevoll said, there isn’t any indication that the market is beginning to cool after an explosive 1998.

Typically, January is one of the year’s slowest months for real estate sales, with the numbers picking up by early spring, Karevoll said.

“I wouldn’t read too much into these numbers,” he said. “Usually, January is [a] different kind of market that posts lower sales numbers.”

According to the report, Thousand Oaks, Oxnard and Camarillo set the strongest sales pace in the county last month.

In Thousand Oaks, 91320 ZIP Code sales increased by almost 35% from January 1998, with the transfer of 62 homes. Median price in the area also increased, jumping by almost 11% to $284,000.

In that city’s 91361 ZIP Code, home sales jumped by almost 143%, with the median price increasing by 39% to $323,000.

In Oxnard’s 93030 ZIP Code, sales increased by more than 44% from January 1998, with the sale of 62 homes. Median price in the area inched up a modest 5% to $188,000.

In Camarillo’s 93010 ZIP Code, sales climbed by more than 15% with median price increasing 13% to $242,000.

However, as the real estate market continued bounding upward in some cities, others experienced steep declines.

Home sales in Oak Park slipped by more than 41% with the median price for a home falling by about 10% to $312,000.

In Moorpark, sales dropped by more than 45% last month compared with the same period in 1998 with just 29 homes sold.

Despite cooler sales, a number of area Realtors said that January was a strong month, and they expect the coming year to continue strong.

“What I’ve heard is that the market is going to slow down by as much as 8% statewide, but that’s not something that’s concerning many of us,” said Jim Baroca, a member of the Ventura County Coastal Assn. of Realtors. “Even with a slowing we’ll still be heading on a pretty steady course with consistent sales and rising prices all around.”

Karevoll agreed, adding that the necessary ingredients are present to keep Ventura County’s residential real estate market healthy.

But posting the kind of record gains the county did through 1998 may be a thing of the past.

“Right now the levels are so high that I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some leveling off sometime this year,” he said. “But all the indicators are there to say that the market’s going to stay pretty healthy.”

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Ventura County House Sales

January, 1998

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City/ZIP Code Number of sales Median price CAMARILLO 93010 53 $213,000 93012 44 $238,000 FILLMORE 93015 5 $169,000 MOORPARK 93021 53 $219,000 OAK PARK 91301 36 $347,000 OAK VIEW 93022 5 $167,000 OJAI 93023 30 $226,000 OXNARD 93030 43 $179,000 93033 33 $136,000 93035 25 $190,000 PORT HUENEME 93041 18 $122,000 SANTA PAULA 93060 17 $146,000 SIMI VALLEY 93063 51 $178,000 93065 90 $242,000 THOUSAND OAKS 91320 46 $256,000 91360 35 $210,000 91361 7 $232,000 91362 54 $276,000 VENTURA 93001 33 $185,000 93003 39 $163,000 93004 31 $204,000 COUNTY LINE / CANYON AREA 90265 -- -- COUNTYWIDE 748 $212,000

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January, 1999

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City/ZIP Code Number of sales Median price CAMARILLO 93010 61 $242,000 93012 41 $250,000 FILLMORE 93015 6 $140,000 MOORPARK 93021 29 $223,000 OAK PARK 91301 21 $312,000 OAK VIEW 93022 9 $182,000 OJAI 93023 20 $235,000 OXNARD 93030 62 $188,000 93033 33 $151,000 93035 28 $198,000 PORT HUENEME 93041 25 $143,000 SANTA PAULA 93060 14 $138,000 SIMI VALLEY 93063 59 $226,000 93065 99 $237,000 THOUSAND OAKS 91320 62 $284,000 91360 47 $229,000 91361 17 $323,000 91362 48 $252,000 VENTURA 93001 31 $218,000 93003 40 $186,000 93004 21 $224,000 COUNTY LINE / CANYON AREA 90265 2 $199,500 COUNTYWIDE 773 $228,000

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Source: Acxiom / DataQuick Information Systems