It is with great pleasure that I get to announce to all our friends and clients that Leslie just got the results of this rigorous test – she passed and on the first time!

Since the beginning of summer, she’s been getting up early (4:30!), staying up late, and giving all her free time to study copious amounts of arcane real estate “stuff”.  For those active in real estate, the broker level represents the highest level of technical and professional competence.

Please email Leslie or give her a call to congratulate her on this milestone in her life!

The number of foreclosures is continuing to slow down in Ventura County. ForeclosureListService.com publishes a running total going back over 10 plus years, and they show a drop from a high of 1,109 in March to 681 in September. A lot of these are the result of flushing out the sub-prime loans, but there’s great concern going into 2010 that the economy (and lost jobs) will continue to keep the numbers high.

Ventura homes for sale trends are reflected in homes that have gone into escrow, or what Realtors call “pending sales” or just pendings. It’s one sign we use to track the marketplace, but it’s influenced by different factors, one of which is level of inventory. Right now, especially in the entry level marketplace, we see low levels and marked competition for clean, well priced homes. But we’re in the home stretch for first time buyers (the $8,000 tax credit) and when that ends next month, perhaps inventory levels will climb and competition will ease in that sector. Here is the homes pending spreadsheet for Ventura. It shows that the quarter ending September is down from 2008, but substantially higher than 2007. These numbers come from the Ventura MLS.

The Oxnard homes for sale trend for the 3rd quarter 2009 has shown a marked drop off from 2008 levels, but substantially higher than 2007.  Here are the spreadsheet numbers. But you’ll note the 1st and 2nd quarters were substantially higher than 2008. The drop in the 3rd quarter is a direct reflection of the fact that inventory levels are down, especially for the first time buyer. These numbers come from the Oxnard MLS.

The Camarillo homes for sale trend bucks what Ventura and Oxnard have seen for the 3rd quarter 2009. Camarillo saw higher numbers of homes going into escrow in the 3rd quarter than 2008.  Here are the numbers for Camarillo’s home pendings. These numbers come from the Camarillo MLS.

Here are the September sold statistics for Ventura homes for sale in our newly expanded 14-plus month format. The homes sold sold and condos sold data comes from Ventura MLS listings.

Here are the September sold statistics for Oxnard homes for sale in our newly expanded 14-plus month format. The homes sold and condos sold data comes from Oxnard MLS listings.

Here are the September sold statistics for Camarillo homes for sale in our newly expanded 14-plus month format. The  homes sold and  condos sold data comes from Camarillo MLS listings.

A couple weeks ago I wrote a post (see “Investors and buying opportunities in a down market”) about investors looking to acquire commercial and multi-family properties in this market.

We’ll have a casual working lunch in our office on Thursday, October 22 from 11:30 to 1 p.m. as I discuss how investors are taking advantage of disruptions in the marketplace to acquire assets for their portfolios and the pros and cons of various strategies investors are using.

Interested? Please email or call Leslie to RSVP so we get a head count for lunch.

I just pulled the number of active homes for sale in Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo this afternoon and inventory levels remain tight, especially at entry levels where competition is fierce and multiple offers are not uncommon.  The number of Ventura homes for sale increased, but Oxnard has seen a drop in inventory from September. With first time buyers scrambling to get into (and close) escrow by the end of November, it’s like shopping for blue light specials at K-Mart. Distressed sales continue to pace the marketplace, but we’ve noticed that prices are firming. We’ll be pulling the sales data for September over the weekend and publishing the data next week!