Real Estate Sales Increase 30.1% in April : Housing: Figures support claims that the market is recovering from a two-year slump.

Ventura County’s real estate sales, which soared in March, increased at a slower pace in April but were still strong compared to statewide markets, a state realty group reported Tuesday.

Sales of existing homes countywide were up 30.1% in April over March, compared with a statewide average of 11.8% and nationwide average of 3.4%, officials with the California Assn. of Realtors said. Ventura County sales had risen by 63.3% in March.

The figures backed up claims by area real estate agents that the county housing market is recovering from a two-year slump after a buying and selling frenzy ended in 1989.

“The market is in a much more normal state for the buyer and seller,” said Janey Messmore, president of the Ventura Board of Realtors. “It used to be that the buyer had to make an offer on a house the same day they saw it. Now sellers are listing their homes at much more realistic prices instead of starting too high and having to come down.”

Tim Hoctor, a Ventura-based real estate agent who also has listings in Ojai and Camarillo, said softer home prices and low interest rates are motivating people to buy.

“They’ve decided that rates are good, the fundamentals are right, and prices are as low as they’re going to get,” he said.

Messmore said the market is also causing sellers to get their homes into shape before they sell them.

“Unfortunately, even the fixer-uppers were selling overnight when the market was hot,” she said. “People didn’t have to get their houses into shape. Now they had better get it shaped up and priced right.”

Ventura County’s 30.1% increase in April over March compares to a 39.5% increase for Santa Barbara County and a 34.3% jump for Los Angeles County. Other Southern California counties that saw major sales increases were Riverside-San Bernardino (32.3%), Orange County (27.2%), San Diego (25.9%) and the San Francisco Bay Area (15.4%).

The statewide upturn, which followed gains of 13.6% and 4.3% in February and March, represented a 0.7% decline from the pace of home sales in April, 1990, according to figures from the statewide real estate association.

Leslie Appleton-Young, vice president of research and economics for the association, said the boomlet may not continue.

“April’s sales activity was stronger than expected,” she said. “However, given the uncertainty over the national economy, housing sales may level off to a more sustainable level in coming months.”