New Home Sales Jump in April, but Prices Soft

Fueled by a dramatic increase in sales of new homes, Ventura County’s residential real estate market continued its almost yearlong comeback in April.

A total of 998 houses and condominiums changed hands in the county last month, 15% more than in the same month last year, Dataquick Information Systems reported.

While far below the 60% year-to-year sales increase in March, last month’s improvement was the ninth in a row, according to La Jolla-based Dataquick.

Builders sold 128 new homes in April, triple the 39 sold in April, 1993, said Dataquick. But last month’s 708 resales of single-family houses represented only a 4% gain over the same month last year. Condominium resales in April totaled 162, up 12%.

Prices continued soft, however, with the median price paid for all homes falling to $192,000, 6% below $205,000 a year earlier.

“We’re settling into a normal market--neither the feverish pace of 1988 and 1989 nor the dead times of 1992,” said Dataquick analyst John Karevoll. He expects a trend toward adjustable-rate mortgages to continue as interest rates increase on fixed-rate loans.