Ventura County Home Sales: February 2020 Report

Ventura County Home Sales: January 2019 vs January 2020

Ventura County homes sales for January 2020 were off to a fast start. This is the time of year when the market starts to pick up. We had extremely low inventory in the last few months of 2019.

We typically see listings start to increase starting in January, building momentum as the spring progresses. It may be that we’ve started the build early this year. We shall see.

Real Estate Market Trends: January 2020 home sales

January 2020 was a busy month, with over 500 fewer active listings to choose from than last year at this time. If you were a buyer, you were feeling the pain of nothing to choose from. The best properties, especially those in move-in condition, went under contract within days of coming on the market, sometimes with multiple offers.

As far as new listings went, there were fewer than January a year ago.

January 2020 was not a slow month, slow as in languishing on the market.

Demand was high, inventory was low, and homes in exemplary condition disappeared fast, just like last month.

Last month’s market report can be seen here January 2020 Home Sales Update

Real Estate Market Data: Days on Market, Sales Price, Pending Listings, Average Price

• Median home sales price: .The median home sales price: $657,500, up 6.3% from last year at this time. Looks like we had a better January this year.
• Average single family home sales price: $821,032, up 9.8% from January 2019.
• New listings: Newly listed single family homes also decreased, down 12% for a total of 582 new listings. January 2019 had 661 new listings. When inventory is this low, it makes it difficult for buyers. Not many choices.
• Active listings: Active listings were also down to 1211 single family homes, a decrease of 31.7% from 2019 at this time (1772 homes). This is a 500 home decrease! December 2019 had 1231 active listings, so this is a further decrease but not a dramatic change month-over-month. The big change is in year-to-year.
• Pending listings: Pending listings were 367 for the month, up 3.4% year-over-year. December 2019 had 388 pending listings, a small decrease in the number of pending homes from one month to the next. It is typical to have decreasing listing volume at this time of year.

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.

Real Estate Market Statistics: Ventura County Zip Code Level

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. 

This will let you see how specific zip codes compared to each other.

What Buyers Need to Know

In short, there was little supply to choose from. Hint: If you are a buyer and you like something, decide quickly and offer strong. You might only get one chance in this seller’s market.

Just to give a broader perspective in where we are in the scheme of things, a decline in the number of homes for sale leading up to the end of the year is expected. Then we start an upward trend in January. This means that there will be more to choose from as the months progress from winter to spring.

What Sellers Need to Know

This is a strong seller’s market. A low supply of active listings and low months of inventory means less competition is likely good news to your ears. It is still important to price it commensurate with its condition, location, and size. Otherwise it could sit.

A Peek at the Nearby Valleys

The San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita Valley continue with extremely low inventory.

It turns out that the Valley and particular parts of Los Angeles County have an even tighter inventory than we do. Ventura County. You think there’s a low supply in Ventura County? The San Fernando Valley has 1.7 months and Santa Clarita Valley has 1.8 months!

The San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita Valley: Still Tight Inventory

Wrap Up and My Two Cents

Look for the number of listings to increase, if we are in for a typical spring. That will be welcome news for buyers.

And sellers, get ready early. It appears that January may be the new March.