If you’re a first time home buyer and have been sitting on the fence – this will blow you over and get you going! You’ve known about the $8,000 first time home buyer federal tax credit.  But now, Californians  can take advantage of newly enacted AB 183 allowing up to $10,000 of additional tax credit! That’s $18,000! This is huge! But there are time lines and the tax credit is on a first come, first served basis. Want to know more? Call us now at 659-2000!

The number of homes in escrow (pendings) for January and February is similar to this same time in ’09.  Data taken from the Ventura MLS.

The number of homes in escrow (pendings) in Oxnard for January and February of this year is holding steady but compared to this time in ’09 – there is markedly less. Data is taken from the Oxnard MLS.

There is a marked increase in Camarillo homes that have gone into escrow (pendings) since January and remain strong compared to this time in ’09 and ’08. Data is taken from the Camarillo MLS.

Smaller homes have consistently out sold single family homes in Ventura over 1,500 square feet.  The price per square foot has remained steady.

The number of  condos sold in Ventura dipped in December and January but show signs of picking up in February. The price per square foot is upward since November. The data is taken from the Ventura MLS.

The number of single family homes that sold in Oxnard in February is showing some fluctuation with a small spike last October (most likely due to the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit). But mostly, January and February have shown modest sales. The price per square foot is in the upward trend. Data taken from the Oxnard MLS.

The number of  condos sold is holding steady with one dip last month. The price per square foot dropped with February ’09, but has been holding steady through the summer and showing an upward trend through the Fall.

The number of homes sold in Camarillo has been steady since May with a slight dip in November and January. More of the larger homes sold last month than those less than 2,000 square feet.  See the data for single family homes taken from the Camarillo MLS.

The number of condos sold is down for January and February. The price per square foot shows an upward trend since June 2009.  See the stats for  condos sold taken from the Camarillo MLS.

Governor Schwarzenegger and lawmakers agreed to a state tax credit up to $10,000 for first time home buyers and those purchasing newly built homes – effective May 1st. Read more….

I had the opportunity to spend two full days in the classroom this week up in San Jose studying investment analysis, specifically geared to commercial real estate. Internal rates of return (IRR), uneven cash flows, cap rates, interest rates, discounted cash flows, analytical tools – good stuff! We even had home work at night! We only covered enough in class so we could complete a case study of a mythical office building once we got back home.

I enjoy going to conferences, seminars and the like. Besides learning new skills and brushing up on the old, these interactions with other attendees often end up with me getting one of those “ah hah!” light bulb going off moments. Now if I could only convince Leslie to send me off on one of these things more often…!

The level of homes for sale in Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo have begun to increase as we get into spring. I anticipate the numbers will increase as we start to get into the traditional selling season for residential properties. Here are the inventory level numbers. At the entry level price points, we’re still seeing a preponderance of distressed sales (short sales and bank owned REO’s) but we’re also starting to see “regular” deals coming on the market as sellers realize that the marketplace has stabilized (ie, not declining) and they’re needing to make life style decisions, such as needing a larger home (move ups), a smaller home, etc. Compared to last year however, we’re roughly down about a third in terms of raw numbers.