Ventura County CA Home Sales Update: Market Report for December 2019

Ventura County Home Sales for December 2019:
A Year to Year Comparison of November 2019 vs November 2018 Sales

This is the time of year when sales typically decrease, and this trend normally lasts until January. Here is what November 2019 brought us in terms of the actual numbers.

• Median home sales price: $667,750 compared to $640,000 in November 2018, a 4.3% increase from November of last year. Sales for the previous month of October 2019 had a median sales price of $665,000, a slight increase from month to month.
• Average home sales price: $852,408 compared to $779,043, a 9.4% increase.
• New listings: 2019 had 460 vs 486 in 2018, a 5.3% decrease. With decreased inventory, supply was tight and presented challenges as buyers competed for a shrinking supply of available houses.
• Active listings: 1400 in 2019 compared to 1960 in 2018, representing a 28.6% decrease. Here are the year to year comparisons for the past 3 years:
  • November 2017: 1942 active listings.
  • November 2018: 1960 active listings.
  • November 2019: 1400 active listings. This is a substantial drop from last year of over 500 available homes. Although the figures went up slightly in November 2018, we’re now at a number that is much lower than the two previous years. Also to note, October 2019 (previous month) had 1602 Active Listings. That represents a 200 home drop month-over-month. A difficult time finding a house in November.
• Pending listings: 425 in 2019 vs 381 in 2018, an 11.5% increase. This year’s November sales were higher than last year’s. There was a decrease, however, from October from 568 pending listings.

Active listings in the context of this report represents all homes that are in the process of being sold. This category encompasses the MLS categories of Active, Active Under Contract, and Pending. In other words, they are at any stage of “for sale”, but have not sold yet.

Ventura County Detailed Market Statistics: Zip Code Level

The pattern in Ventura County is mirrored in individual local ZIP Codes. It’s all about hyper-local, and a focus on individual zip codes gives a more precise insight into how home sales fared indivudually across a broader geographical area.

Below is a chart of single-family home, condo, and town home sales in the predominant ZIP Codes of the Conejo Valley and nearby cities. 

November 2019’s home sales leaders:
Simi Valley’s 93063 and 93065 and 91362 Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village were this month’s leaders. 91320 Newbury Park, which is typically among the top 3, trailed only slightly in the number of sales.
Camarillo’s 93012 also did well, showing an 80% increase year over year. There were only 20 single family home sales in November 2018.

93010 Camarillo was down to a 2.5 Months of Supply in November 2019. Not as low as Simi Valley (see below), but definitely low.

93021 Moorpark sales were flat compared to last year. There were 22 single family homes sold in both November 2018 and November 2019.

A Look at Months of Supply in Simi Valley

Take a look at the two graphs below to see the Months of Supply in Simi Valley. Supply is VERY low.

What Buyers Need to Know

Fewer Active Listings, Fewer New Listings, and Lower Months of Supply all mean that there were fewer house choices for sale. If you like something, you need to quickly decide.

This means that if you are scouring the internet multiple times daily, as you eagerly await for the next listing to appear on the market, so is everyone else. Buyers who are diligently looking should be prepared to offer and not wait. If you see something that you like, move on it.

Just to give a broader perspective in where we are in the scheme of things, a decline in the number of homes for sale at this time of year is not unusual. Historically the number of homes available for sale decreases between early fall and the end of the year, then resumes an upward trend with the new year.

What Sellers Need to Know

A decreasing supply of active listings means less competition if you are in the process of selling your home. It is still important to price it commensurate with its condition, location, and size. Even with low inventory, being realistic is important in order not to have your house sit on the market unsold during the holidays. On the other hand, the months of supply of 2.7 months, a decreased amount in Ventura County year-over-year, is good news for sellers.

Wrap Up and My Two Cents

It was hard to find a house in November 2019. Really hard. Worse than last year.

In November 2019 we had the distraction of the Woolsey Fire. It was all a blur as we were recuperating from the frenzied evacuation, depending on where we lived. This year was much better, and less distracting for home seekers, and they got out and got busy buying.

As we approach the end of the year, activity typically slows to a crawl as people focus on family and celebrations. Houses will continue to come on the market, slowing to a trickle, and then you can anticipate a growing number of choices after the new year.

Have a blessed Christmas and holiday season! Also wishing you a Happy New Year!