Home Sales Grow; Rise in Unemployment Called Seasonal

Ventura County’s real estate market continued its resurgence last month, but unemployment soared to 7.5% after hitting a seven-year low this spring, according to reports released Friday.

In July, 1,101 homes were sold in Ventura County--up 21% from the year earlier, according to a report by Acxiom/DataQuick Information Systems.

Moreover, the county’s median home price was $202,000, up from $193,000 a year ago but below the $210,000 price for a typical home in June.

The figures include new and resale homes as well as condominiums.

“The recovery is continuing in 1997, and I think we’re going to see even stronger figures the second half of the year,” said Joan Young of Young Realtors in Westlake. “I think there was a lot of pent-up demand, and new home sales are really putting a lot of juice into the marketplace.”

Meanwhile, the county’s unemployment rate leaped from 5.9% in June to 7.5% last month after reaching a seven-year low of 5.5% in April, according to preliminary figures released Friday by the state Employment Development Department.

There were 258,900 jobs in Ventura County in July, 2.4% fewer than the 265,400 in June but 0.7% more than in July 1996. The drop largely represents a seasonal loss of jobs in the education sector due to summer vacation.

There were 243,300 nonfarm jobs in the county last month, 4,300 fewer than the month before, but still a 1.5% increase compared to a year ago.

“There’s a slowdown occurring, but it’s nothing to get upset about,” said Mark Schniepp of UC Santa Barbara’s Economic Forecast Project, which tracks Ventura County’s economy. “These things are kind of routine in Ventura County.

“Education is one of the strongest sectors in the economy right now,” he added. “I think this is just a statistical anomaly. Without that, we would see the same [overall] increase we have been seeing all year, somewhere around 2.2%.”

Construction jobs rose slightly from 11,400 in June to 11,500 last month--a 9.5% increase from July 1996. And manufacturing jobs dropped slightly from 31,500 in June to 31,400 last month--a 3% increase compared to the same time a year ago.

“Construction is up, trade is up. Across the board, you see a very broad-based improvement,” Schniepp said. When you put a bunch of [monthly unemployment reports] back to back, you see a continuing positive trend.

“That 3% increase in manufacturing is one of the highest rates we have seen in years. And it has to do with what’s happening in the Oxnard Plain,” he said. “Some things are happening there with long-term benefits.”

Schniepp was referring to the relocation of Haas Automation and Bungee International to Oxnard.

Farm labor, however, continued to decline, dropping from 17,800 in June to 15,600 last month--off 12.4%. It was down 10.9% compared to the same time last year. Schniepp said that part of the loss may be the result of a new way of counting farm jobs.

Overall, Ventura County’s unemployment rate reflected the state’s jobless rate, which rose from a revised 6.3% in June to 6.6% last month. The nation’s unemployment rate fell slightly from 5.2% to 5% during the same span.

The housing figures released Friday continued to show a real estate renaissance throughout Southern California.

More than 22,300 houses and condos were sold last month in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Diego and Riverside counties, according to the Acxiom/DataQuick report.

The median price for a home in the region was $169,000, up from $162,000 the same time a year ago.

“Home ownership had lost its glamour, because we went through a period of high inflation and low affordability for first-time home buyers,” Young said. “But those conditions have changed, and people are seeing home buying as the way it was traditionally viewed, a good investment as well as a place to live.”

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Ventura County Home Sales

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July 1996 July 1997 Number Median Number Median City/ZIP code of sales price of sales price CAMARILLO 93010 57 $181,000 65 $204,000 93012 52 $226,000 72 $202,000 FILLMORE 93015 13 $134,000 14 $145,000 MOORPARK 93021 67 $219,000 71 $207,000 OAK PARK 91301 28 $243,000 36 $265,000 OAK VIEW 93022 6 $254,000 10 $146,000 OJAI 93023 20 $219,000 34 $175,000 OXNARD 93030 44 $182,000 87 $165,000 93033 32 $127,000 48 $136,000 93035 41 $177,000 49 $197,000 PORT HUENEME 93041 28 $117,000 23 $109,000 SANTA PAULA 93060 29 $145,000 19 $140,000 SIMI VALLEY 93063 87 $174,000 80 $175,000 93065 85 $188,000 96 $208,000 THOUSAND OAKS 91320 48 $224,000 78 $257,000 91360 49 $202,000 92 $220,000 91361 24 $287,000 21 $318,000 91362 72 $294,000 94 $274,000 VENTURA 93001 33 $137,000 27 $303,000 93003 56 $167,000 62 $179,000 93004 38 $189,000 23 $203,000 COUNTYWIDE 909 $193,000 1,101 $202,000

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Source: Acxiom / DataQuick Information Systems

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Ventura County Jobless Rate

July 1997: 7.5%

Annual Rates

1997: 6.6%

1996: 7.1%

1995: 7.5%

1994: 7.8%

Source: California Employment Development Department