…the big jump in home sales compared to a year ago for southland counties. I’ve told many people that when the general media starts to shift focus from all the negative real estate news we’ve seen over the past year and starts talking about “Is this a good time to buy?” type news, that maybe the market will be on the upswing. So what’s going on?

For those of you who’ve been following our local stats, you know Oxnard has been screaming with first time/entry level buyers, and that Ventura and Oxnard are seeing substantial increases in home sales compared to a year ago.

Yes – it’s all because of foreclosures and short sales. But we’re also seeing multiple offers coming in on well priced homes, which means price points should start to be firming up. What’s the future hold? Who knows – all I know is that in the last 30 days or so in various publications, I’m seeing articles like today’s LA Times talking about big gains in sales, and quoting an Inland Empire buyer that they “weren’t worried that prices would continue falling, as most real estate experts predict, because they plan to live in the home and not resell it for a quick profit”.