Median Home Price Hits High of $343,000

The price of a typical Ventura County home hit a record $343,000 last month, and November sales increased 8.8% from a year ago, putting the county on track for its biggest year since 1988.

The latest figures, released by DataQuick Information Systems, show the median home price resuming its climb after stalling for five months in the mid-$330,000s.

A total of 1,364 new and existing homes and condominiums sold in November, 110 more than the same month a year ago. The median price -- the point at which half the dwellings sold for more and half for less -- was up $52,000, or 17.9%, from November 2001.

DataQuick analyst John Karevoll said he expects December’s median to exceed $350,000, because home prices historically increase in December.

Through Nov. 30, 16,326 homes had been sold in Ventura County, 8.3% more than in the same 11-month period last year and only about 100 homes short of the total sold for all of 2001.

Though 71 fewer new homes sold last month than a year ago, their median price was up 12.8% to $440,000. Resale homes were up 16.2%; condos were up 24%.

“The strength of Ventura County’s market continues to surprise me,” said Bill Watkins, executive director of UC Santa Barbara’s Economic Forecast Project. “I keep expecting the rate of growth to slow down, but it hasn’t happened yet. This speaks to the very dynamic nature of the Ventura County economy.”

Demand continues to grow, while relatively little home building limits supply, he said.

Karevoll, who has monitored technical benchmarks in the local housing market for months, said rising prices and strong sales will likely continue.

“We have seen no indication that the housing market is going to act any differently in the next six months than it has in the last six months,” he said.

Among signs of potential trouble, Karevoll said, would be the number of people defaulting on mortgages, which remains relatively low.

Ventura County’s record home price is in line with median prices in six Southern California counties, which all reached highs in November. The regionwide median increased to $288,000, up 21% compared with November 2001.

Geoff Baker, president of the Conejo Valley Assn. of Realtors, said nearly every home offered for sale in his area is snapped up quickly.

“As long as interest rates stay low, we would expect demand to remain high and for prices to continue to increase,” he said. “I don’t see any negative side to the market at all.”

About a half a dozen communities in Ventura County now have median prices above $400,000. Sales are up in all price ranges, and even entry-level buyers have an opportunity to make a deal, Karevoll said.

“Now is actually not a bad time to buy, because of the low interest rates which makes financing easy,” he said.

With rates below 5.7% for a 30-year loan, Karevoll said it actually costs less to buy a typical home at today’s higher prices than it did 13 years ago -- near the top of the last housing boom.

For example, the monthly payment on a 30-year mortgage for today’s median priced home, based on a 20% down payment, is about $1,579, he said. In the spring of 1989, the median price in Ventura was $228,000, but the monthly payment was $1,782 because of interest rates of more than 11.3%.

“Interest rates are so good that people don’t have to push their finances out on thin ice to buy a home, like they had to do 10 or 15 years ago,” Karevoll said.

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Home Sales

*--* November Median Price Sales 1988 $203,000 1,466

1989 $225,000 1,057

1990 $216,000 689

1991 $208,000 585

1992 $204,000 817

1993 $197,000 788

1994 $189,000 841

1995 $193,000 927

1996 $186,000 882

1997 $207,000 942

1998 $230,000 1,092

1999 $241,000 1,217

2000 $266,000 1,274

2001 $291,000 1,254

2002 $343,000 1,364

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Source: DataQuick Information Systems

Los Angeles Times

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Breakdown by ZIP Code

*--* November 2001 November 2002 City Zip Code Sales Median Price Sales Median Price

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*--* Camarillo 93010 59 $317,275 68 $344,500

Camarillo 93012 61 $303,000 81 $403,000

Fillmore 93015 32 $281,000 17 $262,000

Moorpark 93021 58 $393,250 92 $373,000

Oak Park 91377 27 $421,000 36 $490,000

Oak View 93022 5 $275,000 6 $349,000

Ojai 93023 31 $330,000 28 $357,500

Oxnard 93030 97 $274,000 94 $341,500

Oxnard 93033 64 $207,250 92 $243,500

Oxnard 93035 61 $317,250 65 $312,500

Port Hueneme 93041 35 $183,000 42 $252,500

Santa Paula 93060 25 $230,000 22 $189,000

Simi Valley 93063 95 $262,775 83 $320,000

Simi Valley 93065 131 $256,000 142 $327,250

Thousand Oaks 91320 99 $412,000 110 $452,000

Thousand Oaks 91360 51 $321,000 57 $357,000

Thousand Oaks 91361 28 $336,000 29 $584,750

Thousand Oaks 91362 84 $407,000 102 $445,000

Ventura 93001 29 $225,500 47 $320,000

Ventura 93003 116 $283,500 64 $339,500

Ventura 93004 37 $299,000 37 $331,250

Countywide 1,254 $291,000 1,364 $343,000

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Source: DataQuick Information Systems

Los Angeles Times