Sale of Newly Built Homes Up 12.6% in 1999

Cashing in on Ventura County’s stellar economy, developers have seen record sales this year as the number of newly built houses sold rose 12.6% from 1998, according to a report by an Irvine research firm.

Builders sold 2,654 homes through Dec. 15, up from 2,358 in 1998, with most sales occurring in the eastern end of the county, Oxnard and Camarillo.

The last year of the 1900s is on track for a strong close, according to the report issued this week by the Meyers Group.

Sales from mid-September to mid-December grew 37% compared with the same period last year, up from 518 homes to 709.

While sales increased, prices dipped slightly compared with the last quarter of 1998--from $331,950 to $324,207. That is largely attributed to the popularity of two developments in Oxnard with prices starting about $225,000, analysts said.

“What’s attractive about Ventura County is that it’s just a nice place to live,” said Bob Bray, a Meyers Group analyst. “And the county has been able to supply the market.”

Developers in Simi Valley led the way in 1999 by selling 764 new homes, followed by those in Thousand Oaks, where 577 homes sold. On the other side of the Conejo Grade, 477 homes sold in Camarillo and 429 in Oxnard.

Nonetheless, inventory remains tight--although the number of county housing projects rose this year to 61 from 49--and prices continue to rise as a result.

Analysts say predictions of higher interest rates next year and the influence of strict growth-control measures, known as SOAR, might cool the building and sales of new homes.

In the year 2000, the combination of a good economy, consumer confidence and resurgent stock market “is not going to be as neatly packed together,” said G. U. Krueger, deputy chief economist at the California Assn. of Realtors. “The missing piece that’s going to shift away is affordability.”

Whether 1999 will also be a record year for all home sales--including new, resale and condominiums--will remain a mystery down to the wire. But one thing is clear: The market may never look this way again.

“People were reading between the lines and saying ‘I had better move in quickly [before things change],’ ” said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

That was the case for the Fischetto family of Simi Valley, who traded in their fixer-upper for a new four-bedroom home in the Erringer Meadows development.

With a 13% interest rate on their old home and prices rising swiftly, they struggled unsuccessfully for months to find a resale home that they liked. A new home in the mid-$200,000 range was their salvation.

“We bought off a floor plan,” said Stacy Fischetto, whose husband, Richard, teaches in the Los Angeles Unified School District. “With prices the way they are, this was the time to jump on it.”

Developments leading the sales statistics include the upscale Regency Hills in Oak Park. And the builders of Verandahs in Simi Valley and Sunrise Point in Oxnard credit strong sales to their neighborhoods’ comparatively low prices.

“This is one of the last affordable beach areas,” said Jeannette Choate, a sales representative at Sunrise Point, where prices range from about $225,000 to $275,000. “And in our area, the resale property values have gotten pretty high. Our prices are still low enough that we’re attracting people who could have gone either way.”

At Verandahs, where prices begin below $200,000, houses are snapped up as soon as they go on the market, said Mary Brady, a sales representative for developer Griffin Industries.

There is already a long waiting list for the next phase of the project, which won’t go on sale for months, she added.

Kyser said the construction industry has been strong in Ventura County this year as projects approved before the passage of SOAR get in under the wire. But once those homes have sold, housing will become increasingly scarce and prices will rise more.

“The bottom line is we’re starting to run out of land in Southern California--especially if we want to maintain the ambience,” he said. “We’ll have to think about land use and reuse in innovative ways. We have an array of hurdles ahead of us.”

‘99 New Home Sales

Camarillo: 477

Moorpark: n/a

Newbury Par: 63

Oak Park: 27

Oxnard: 429

Piru: 4

Santa Paula: 0

Simi Valley: 764

Thousand Oaks: 577

Ventura: 264

Westlake Village: 49

Source: The Meyers Group