The stats for November 2008 pending sales for Oxnard are still screaming compared to this month in 2007. Ventura pendings are still higher than the peak summer months of 2007 while Camarillo is comparable to this time last year.

The stats are in for single family homes and condos that have gone into escrow for October. In past months we’ve repeatedly said that Oxnard is white hot and the October pendings continue to show very strong sales activity.

Homes that are considered “pending” means homes that are in escrow and under contract. For Camarillo, in comparing the first 3 quarters of 2008 as compared to 2007, there is somewhat a tie without major differences. In Oxnard, all three quarters are still screaming up compared to 2007. For Ventura, the first 2 quarters were slightly stronger than 2007 but the third quarter screamed up over 2007! See the hard numbers here.

Here are the August sold statistics. We continue seeing price point declines in Oxnard because of bank foreclosures, but Camarillo and Ventura appear to be close to July numbers. Based on square footage prices, condos have gone up in value in Camarillo and Ventura, while Oxnard was about the same.

Because the monthly statistics can vary quite a bit, after we see the September  statistics, we’ll combine the monthly stats into quarterly stats and see how trends are looking.

September has been super busy, what with the drop in interest rates, lots of REO properties coming on the market – buyers seem to be coming out of the woodwork. Here are the numbers for the August pending sales.

“Pendings” are homes that have just gone into escrow. A buyer and seller have agreed to terms, and the buyer has put hard cash (the security deposit) into escrow. We track pendings as a leading indicator of real estate activity.

August shows TWICE the number of pendings for Ventura compared to 2007. Oxnard had 4 TIMES the number of pendings compared to last year, and even Camarillo had more pendings than last year.

Here are the statistics for the month of July. This shows the asking price, sold price, and days on the market for the cities of Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo. The number of homes sold in Camarillo and Oxnard have increased Read the rest of this article »

Here are the sold statistics for the month of June. This shows the asking price, sold price, and days on the market for the cities of Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo. In comparing the three cities and the price/square foot, Camarillo remains relatively unchanged from May while Oxnard and Ventura prices are still on a slight downward trend. Do not read too much into this snap shot of the real estate market, because often times the data sampling isn’t large enough to be thoroughly accurate. A more accurate indication is to study the trends from January this year and you can do so by clicking on the category to the right “Homes Sold-Statistics”.

This comparison is of the price per square foot for homes that closed escrow in the three cities of Camarillo, Oxnard, and Ventura for the month of May. For single family homes, the trend is mostly downward depending on the size of the home. The larger homes in Camarillo showed an increase in $/Sq.Ft. Condominiums in Oxnard also showed an increase in $/Sq.Ft. while Camarillo and Ventura were downward.

The May pending numbers are in for Camarillo, Ventura and Oxnard. Camarillo continues on about the same as in May 2007 but Oxnard continues to be white hot in homes that are in escrow! Ventura is seeing a fair spike in activity.

The National Association of Realtors came out with this statement today:

“PENDING HOME SALES UP 6.3 PERCENT IN APRIL
The number of pending sales contracts for existing homes rose 6.3 percent in April, according to the latest Pending Homes Sales Index from NAR. The Index rose to 88.2 in April, up from 83 in March.

’Pending sales contracts have picked up notably in areas undergoing significant price drops,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist “Bargain hunters have entered the market en masse, especially in areas that have experienced double-digit price declines, but it’s unclear if they are investors or owner-occupants.’”

Here are the April sold statistics for properties that closed escrow in April, and they show some interesting differences between Ventura, Camarillo and Oxnard. Comparing differences with March stats, Camarillo and Oxnard are still showing price declines, but Ventura’s sold prices have jumped.

Because there can be variances that affect the list prices and sold prices, we tend to focus on the more “generic” price per square foot when we analyze where the market is going.

The drag on Oxnard, and to a lesser extent Camarillo, are the numerous “short-pays” and foreclosure properties (REO – real estate owned) that are putting the big hurt on regular sellers.

As painful as the market is for existing property owners, the overall effect is a cleansing of a marketplace that was way off kilter. We are seeing a flood of entry level, first time homebuyers coming into the market – and investors, who are making numerous “low ball” offers on properties hoping to score big in this down turn.

It’ll be fun to see how we progress through spring and into summer!