House Prices, Sales Stay at Healthy Level in January
Coming off a decade high set last year, Ventura County’s residential real estate market continued its healthy pace in the first month of 2000, posting gains in sales and median prices.
In addition, the number of homes sold was up 2.6% compared to January 1999--from 794 to 815, according to a report released Thursday by La Jolla-based research company Acxiom / DataQuick.
Median prices--at which half the homes sold for less and half sold for more--rose 10.9% from the same period last year to $254,000. The report includes new and resale homes as well as condominiums.
“We thought there would be some leveling off, that some activity would get deferred,” said John Karevoll, an analyst with Acxiom / DataQuick. “But interest rates really haven’t meant much to this market.”
Despite recent rate hikes, there is unlikely to be any change in the housing market until interest rates hit 10%, analysts have said.
Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages were at 8.13% Thursday, according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of nearly 3,000 banks in 50 states.
January is usually the slowest month for real estate sales, with homes selling at their lowest prices. Numbers normally pick up in early spring, Karevoll said.
“The trends of the year are atypical in January,” he said. “You see a lot of investors in the market in January, a lot of bargain hunters.”
Prices are typically 7% lower in January than in June or July--the hottest months for real estate, Karevoll said.
Healthy January sales were spread out throughout the county, with parts of the west county particularly strong, according to the report.
Fillmore’s home sales doubled, from six to 12, with prices skyrocketing 87.6% to $250,000.
That is because more people are forsaking Ventura and Oxnard, and looking to Fillmore for moderately priced homes, said Kay Wilson-Bolton, president of the Ventura County Coastal Realtors Assn.
“Fillmore’s price range is so much lower than the rest of the county, and people have been squeezed out of other markets,” she said. “They can afford to spend more in Fillmore.”
Other areas with strong sales included eastern Ventura, which had a 50% increase in sales to 60 homes and a price hike of a third to $248,000. In south Oxnard, sales rose 43.5%, and the median price increased by a more modest 6.9% to $201,000.
In Port Hueneme, sales climbed 28%, with the median price increasing 10.5% to $158,000.
And although sales were down 7.1% in Santa Paula, prices were up a hefty 48.6% to $205,000.
While some areas rose, others--mainly in the east county--saw sales decline, probably because of unavailability, Realtors said.
Newbury Park had a 22.6% drop in sales and a small change in price, up 5.3% to $299,000. In Camarillo, sales dropped by just over a third as prices hopped up 26%, to $305,000.
“Some places have virtually zero inventory,” said Pat Patterson of Patterson & Tintorri in Oxnard. “It’s hard to say how much activity there would be if we had more.”
Wilson-Bolton said interest rate hikes could make the market a little less tight.
“The home sellers think, ‘I better get into the market before interest rates inch up further,’ ” she said. “That takes a little pressure off price increases” as more homes go on the market.
In the meantime, expect little to no change, Karevoll said.
“We’re trying to look for any change in the way things are happening,” he said.
“Nothing’s different now from what’s been in place for the last half year. It’s not great for headlines, but it looks like more of the same into spring and summer.”
Ventura County House Sales
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January 1999 January 2000 Number Median Number Median City / ZIP Code of sales price of sales price CAMARILLO 93010 61 $242,000 40 $305,000 93012 41 $250,000 41 $273,000 FILLMORE 93015 6 $140,000 12 $250,000 MOORPARK 93021 29 $223,000 36 $220,000 OAK PARK 91377 21 $337,000 29 $286,000 OAK VIEW 93022 9 $182,000 9 $198,000 OJAI 93023 20 $235,000 23 $225,000 OXNARD 93030 62 $188,000 89 $201,000 93033 33 $151,000 35 $161,000 93035 28 $198,000 31 $244,000 PORT HUENEME 93041 25 $143,000 32 $158,000 SANTA PAULA 93060 14 $138,000 13 $205,000 SIMI VALLEY 93063 59 $226,000 62 $262,000 93065 99 $237,000 89 $268,000 THOUSAND OAKS 91320 62 $284,000 48 $299,000 91360 47 $229,000 39 $297,000 91361 17 $323,000 15 $384,000 91362 48 $252,000 58 $339,000 VENTURA 93001 31 $218,000 26 $233,000 93003 40 $186,000 60 $248,000 93004 21 $224,000 28 $232,000 COUNTYWIDE 794 $229,000 815 $254,000
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Source: Acxiom / DataQuick Information Systems
