Home Sales in County Continue Strong Gains

Bolstered by rapid job growth, rock-bottom interest rates and a renewed sense of financial security among county residents, home sales last month continued to show marked improvement over the same period last year, a report released Tuesday shows.

In November, 942 homes were sold across the county, an increase of more than 11% from a year earlier. In addition, the median home price rose 6.8%--to $207,000--from last year’s $186,000, according to the report compiled by the La Jolla-based research firm Acxiom/DataQuick.

The figures cover new and resale homes, as well as condominiums.

“We’re still seeing a lot of that pent-up demand right now,” said Acxiom/DataQuick analyst John Karevoll. “The formula’s there. . . . People realize the time is right for buying a home.”

For the first time this year, communities in western Ventura County led the home sales market with 509 homes sold, a 21% increase from November 1996, when 421 residences found their way into new hands.

“There is a lot of excitement and energy in the market right now,” said Kathy Mehringer, vice president and regional manager for Fred Sands Brown Realty in Westlake Village. “We’re just bemoaning our lack of inventory.”

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In Ventura, which has experienced fluctuating home sales figures for most of the year, 114 homes were sold, up 20% from last year, when 95 homes were sold.

In Camarillo, homes sales increased 13%, from 97 in November 1996 to 110 last month. In Ojai, 28 homes were sold, compared with 15 during the same period a year ago.

Communities east of the Conejo Grade, which have carried the home-buying frenzy for most of the year, posted a modest 9% gain during the 30 days of November.

In Thousand Oaks, 21% more homes were sold last month compared with November 1996, but Simi Valley experienced a decline of 17%, with only 160 homes sold, compared with 193 in November 1996.

However, leading the county with a 239% gain was small but luxurious Oak Park, where 44 homes were snatched up. At the same time, the median home price there rose 30%, to $295,000.

Karevoll said the east county’s lackluster performance compared with past months should not be construed as a sign of economic cooling.

“It shouldn’t worry anyone . . . . The level we’re at is very strong, and we’ll probably see it back up early next year,” he said.

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For the past two years Ventura County’s housing market has been steadily rebuilding after a crippling recession in the early 1990s, and it stands poised to maintain that growth, real estate analysts say.

And although the growth isn’t expected to reach the heated levels of the late 1980s, analysts say today’s activity is more balanced and is grounded in a broad and burgeoning economy that will fuel the home-buying frenzy at least through the second quarter of 1998.

“People are buying again, and that’s because the economy’s a lot better than it was 10 years ago,” said Mark Schniepp, director of UC Santa Barbara’s Economic Forecast Project. “There’s a much broader base in the Ventura County economy that’s fueling this, and there’s nothing to indicate that will slow down any time soon.”

Added to that, interest rates have fallen to levels almost unheard of in recent years, with some loan packages as low as 6.875%.

That, along with the county’s reputation for good schools, safe communities and low property taxes, has wooed many home buyers, including Greg and Terry Keys, recent transplants from Chicago who bought their first home last month in Thousand Oaks.

“At this stage in our lives we needed to buy, and I don’t think we could have come in at a better time,” said 35-year-old Terry Keys, who added that she and her husband plan to start a family. “It was really the perfect time. . . . The prices were right, the taxes were low and the community was just what we wanted.”

Although most economists agree that the county’s housing market will continue to be active well into the next year, it may be tempered by an anticipated increase in prices, due to the area’s acute lack of homes.

Karevoll and Schniepp said they anticipate price increases of 7% to 10% by summer. However, if interest rates stay at current levels, increased prices could be offset.

“Even with those prices, the affordability will probably be the same as it was two years ago, so it’s uncertain whether that will have any impact on the number of sales,” Karevoll said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Ventura County House Sales

City/Zip code

Camarillo:

93010

November 1996

Number of Sales: 44

Average price: $183,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 60

Average price: $201,000

93012

November 1996

Number of Sales: 53

Average price: $206,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 50

Average price: $210,000

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Fillmore

93015

November 1996

Number of Sales: 10

Average price: $149,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 7

Average price: $148,000

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Moorpark

93021

November 1996

Number of Sales: 67

Average price: $193,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 69

Average price: $210,000

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Oak Park

91301

November 1996

Number of Sales: 13

Average price: $226,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 44

Average price: $295,000

*

Oak View

93022

November 1996

Number of Sales: 3

Average price: NA

November 1997

Number of Sales: 5

Average price: $210,000

*

Ojai

93023

November 1996

Number of Sales: 15

Average price: $212,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 28

Average price: $192,000

*

Oxnard

93030

November 1996

Number of Sales: 72

Average price: $179,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 61

Average price: $171,000

93033

November 1996

Number of Sales: 38

Average price: $145,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 31

Average price: $130,000

93035

November 1996

Number of Sales: 36

Average price: $166,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 48

Average price: $191,000

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Port Hueneme

93041

November 1996

Number of Sales: 34

Average price: $95,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 20

Average price: $130,000

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Santa Paula

93060

November 1996

Number of Sales: 20

Average price: $125,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 16

Average price: $133,000

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Simi Valley

93063

November 1996

Number of Sales: 89

Average price: $177,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 67

Average price: $175,000

93065

November 1996

Number of Sales: 104

Average price: $212,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 93

Average price: $203,000

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Thousand Oaks

91320 November 1996

Number of Sales: 65

Average price: $222,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 75

Average price: $258,000

91360

November 1996

Number of Sales: 63

Average price: $222,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 66

Average price: $216,000

91361

November 1996

Number of Sales: 12

Average price: $238,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 16

Average price: $322,000

91362

November 1996

Number of Sales: 49

Average price: $276,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 72

Average price: $284,000

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Ventura

93001

November 1996

Number of Sales: 28

Average price: $244,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 35

Average price: $209,000

93003

November 1996

Number of Sales: 45

Average price: $164,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 45

Average price: $159,000

93004

November 1996

Number of Sales: 22

Average price: $174,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 34

Average price: $198,000

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Countywide

November 1996

Number of Sales: 882

Average price: $186,000

November 1997

Number of Sales: 942

Average price: $207,000

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Source: Acxiom/DataQuick Information Systems