Condominium sales were also down with 232 units sold at a median price of $400,000, a 9.1 percent decrease compared to March 2006.The average price per square foot of a Ventura County single-family home - not including attached garages - was $382.In March only Oak View, Ojai and Simi Valley ZIP Code 93065 saw year-over-year median price increases for single-family homes with 15.9 percent, 12.2 percent and 0.8 percent respectively.Cynthia Dunbar of Santa Paula’s Troop Real Estate branch believes that things will get better.“I see things picking up but I still see prices adjusting a little,” she noted. “But we feel things are going to start turning” with potential homebuyers eyeing still low interest rates and lower prices.An issue for sellers has been remembrances of the housing frenzy of several years ago when “No one was willing to negotiate,” a stance some owners still hold.With rising foreclosures and the sub-prime lending market all but a memory, “lenders have tightened up, there’s no gray areas for loans now...I wish there was some way to make it easier for buyers.”Overall, “it just takes two or three good ones” sold to help turn things around and Santa Paula is experiencing a market being felt everywhere else.But “Santa Paula is still a very desirable place to live” with good housing prices that will continue to lure buyers said Dunbar.
VC median home prices shown a continued downturn with March data
May 16, 2007
Santa Paula News
Median home prices continued a downturn, according to March sales figures that showed that Santa Paula’s robust prices are turning just bust.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesMedian home prices continued a downturn, according to March sales figures that showed that Santa Paula’s robust prices are turning just bust.According to Data-Quick Information Systems of La Jolla, the median price for Santa Paula single-family homes sold in March were down 7.1 percent year-over-year with the 12 homes sold having a median of $525,000.The median price means that half the homes sold more for the amount and half for less.Santa Paula’s average price per square foot - which excludes attached garages - was $383.Median March prices were tough all over: in Fillmore 12 single-family homes sold at a median of $460,000, a 19.3 percent decrease from prices set in March 2006.The biggest loss leader was Westlake Village where year-over-year median prices sank by 44.7 percent in March for the 15-single family homes sold.The median price was still a county leader at $882,000 but the average cost per square foot for a Westlake Village home was only $367.Throughout Ventura County evidence of the softening market was evident: Throughout the county in March, 570 single-family homes - a much smaller number of transactions - were sold at a median price of $620,000, a 2.9 percent decrease year-over-year.
