County Home Sales Rise 2.7% in May

Ventura County home buyers continued to snap up properties in May--lifting sales a modest 2.7% from the same month last year--though median prices have softened slightly in the past three months.

Last month 1,347 homes were sold countywide, up from 1,312 in May 1998, according to a report released Wednesday. The median selling price of those homes also increased, jumping by more than 10% to $236,000.

While this figure is just $5,000 shy of a record selling price set in March 1989, it’s also $3,000 below the median reached this March.

But real estate experts discount making month-to-month price comparisons because, they say, such minor fluctuations are common in housing statistics.

“I also would not take this as a sign that the market is stabilizing. . . . There’s no sign that sales or prices are going to level off, at least through the end of the year,” said John Karevoll, an analyst at Acxiom/DataQuick, which released the report.

By contrast, Karevoll said the May sales numbers, which include new and resale homes as well as condominiums, should be considered good news despite the modest increase from 1998.

“We compared last month’s sales to a period that had extremely strong sales, so any increase, even if it’s just marginal, is kind of remarkable,” he said.

Ventura, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley were among cities posting significant increases in sales and home prices last month.

In Thousand Oaks’ upscale 91320 ZIP Code, sales in May increased by more than 20% from the same period a year ago, with 101 homes sold. The median price in that area also jumped, increasing by nearly 20% to $302,000.

Sales in Ventura’s 93001 ZIP Code climbed 20% after 42 homes were grabbed from the market at a median price of $271,000, up more than 32% from the same period one year earlier.

In Simi Valley’s 93065 ZIP Code, sales jumped 15%. The median home price in that area also rocketed up--nearly 32%--to $257,000.

Other areas showed strong sales increases as well, including Oxnard’s 93030 ZIP Code and Fillmore.

Sales ballooned in that Oxnard ZIP by nearly 60%, with the median home price climbing from $160,000 to $198,000.

And sales in Fillmore jumped 53%, though the median price dropped nearly 10% to $188,000.

In some areas the sales pace dropped.

In Camarillo’s 93012 ZIP Code sales dipped nearly 20%.

Thousand Oaks’ 91360 ZIP Code incurred similar sluggishness in May. Last month 75 homes there were sold, down nearly 14% from the same month in 1998. And sales in Ojai fell by more than 31%.

Despite such softness in selected communities, analysts and real estate professionals said the overall market remains heated and that there is no sign it will plateau or begin to weaken soon.

“It’s far too early to say whether things are starting to stabilize,” said Kathy Mehringer, vice president of Fred Sands Brown Realty in Westlake Village. “The market has changed a little, there’s more product, but sales are also strong and I don’t think that’s going to change much.”

For those who might compare today’s market with the bloated market of a decade ago that eventually collapsed, analysts said the types of home buyers and their activity are far different and more sustainable.

Karevoll said while there is a ceiling as to how much sales can increase, he doesn’t feel the limit has been reached. He expects both sales and the median home price to grow by 9% to 12% through year-end.

Also, today’s typical home buyer is far different from those who fanned the overheated market in 1989.

While many buyers in the late 1980s bought property for purely speculative reasons, experts say buyers today are motivated by more practical motivations and aren’t primarily concerned with instant profit.

“Most of the buyers are looking for home ownership and are buying for the long term,” said George Hutchison, a broker associate at Fred Sands Brown. “That attitude of ownership, I think, will serve this cycle well.”