Home Sales Continued at Brisk Pace During April
Buoyed by continued confidence in the economy and low mortgage rates, Ventura County home buyers kept setting a blistering pace in April, with sales increasing 17% over the same period a year before, according to a report released Tuesday.
Last month, 1,448 homes were sold in the area, up from 1,238 in April 1998. In addition, the median selling price for homes in the county surged 14.5% to $237,000, just $4,000 shy of the record selling price set in March 1989.
“This goes hand in hand with everything else that’s been happening in the county,” said Mark Schniepp, director of the UC Santa Barbara Economic Forecast Project. “Four days ago, we had a terrific jobs report, and more jobs mean more income, and more income means more spending.”
The report, which includes new and resale homes as well as condominiums, was released by Acxiom / DataQuick, a research firm based in La Jolla.
Most of this area’s real estate activity was clustered in Thousand Oaks, Oxnard and Ventura.
In Thousand Oaks’ 91320 ZIP Code, sales increased by more than 88% from the year before with 145 homes sold. The median price in that area also increased, marching up 25% to $299,000.
Sales in Oxnard’s 93033 ZIP Code increased 50% with the purchase of 60 homes in April. The median price there jumped by nearly 20% to $145,000.
In Ventura’s 93001 ZIP Code, sales jumped almost 23%, with the median price skyrocketing from $168,000 in April 1998 to $256,000 last month.
“There’s strength in pretty much every sector of the economy, which is one of the reasons why these numbers are so strong,” said Pat Patterson, president of the Ventura County Assn. of Realtors. “People want to buy a home, and there’s nothing stopping them from doing it. . . . They’re affordable and finance rates are really very low.”
Some communities, however, posted only marginal sales increases, with some showing declines in their median home price.
Sales in Simi Valley’s 93063 ZIP Code, for example, slipped by more than 20% last month to 99 homes. By contrast, sales were up more than 58% on the western side of the city, and the median there increased nearly 25% to $253,000.
Camarillo’s 93010 ZIP Code also showed a decline, down 13% with the sale of 80 homes.
The median home price in Fillmore, which had a 150% increase in total sales, slid almost 14% to $155,000.
Although economists had predicted a cooling of the housing market and overall economy this year, signs have been scant so far.
Unemployment remains near record lows, and the housing supply continues to fall far short of demand.
That, some experts said, could keep the market frenzied for some time, but others worried that recent price hikes may hurt if interest rates are increased to stave off inflation.
“Every quarter-point increase takes away affordability,” Patterson said. “We’re cautiously optimistic about the course [Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan] is going to take. . . . We’re hoping the rate won’t change.”
For now, at least, the Federal Reserve is doing nothing.
In a meeting Tuesday, the Federal Open Market Committee decided not to change interest rates, but indicated that it may ratchet them up this summer.
That would lead to higher mortgage rates and could discourage some from purchasing a home.
“We can expect that to happen at some time,” Schniepp said. “I think the county can expect the real estate market to moderate some time in the future because of rate hikes.”
