Realtors for Ventura | Oxnard | Camarillo

The Camarillo MLS shows that in January, there are approximately 50% fewer number of homes sold than in December. Overall, the price per square foot is also less than in December.

The number of condos sold has see-sawed since last Spring – up, down, up, down.  The price per square foot is seeing an upward trend.

Don recently closed on this 40,000 plus square foot office building in Camarillo. He represented the buyers in tracking this property through foreclosure and negotiating the sale with the lender. While much has been written about the housing crisis over the past 2 years or so, commercial real estate is beginning to be hit by the same pressures of falling values and lack of financing. Commercial properties were commonly financed through the CMBS (Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities) market, but that marketplace has essentially been frozen since our near financial meltdown in late 2008. This financial pressure on commercial properties, however, brings excellent opportunities for institutional and/or commercial investors. Interested in this arena of investment possibilities? Give Don a call to find out more.

Single family Ventura homes for sale have increased while levels for Oxnard and Camarillo appear to be relatively constant.  In January, about 180 homes were sold in these 3 cities, which would put our inventory level at about a 3 month supply. Inventory levels in other parts of the country are substantially higher (10 months or more) but our lower levels are still making entry level priced homes very competitive among buyers, with multiple offers still common. Here are the inventory level numbers.

In our February newsletter, I muse about the stark contrast I’ve seen this past year in real estate between worry – and hope.  Easy to write about, but so profound to understand!

Because the FHA is losing money on record foreclosures (their minimum reserves should be above 2% but were at 0.53% in November), they announced this week that they’re increasing the upfront premium from 1.75% to 2.25%. There has also been political pressure to increase the down payment (currently at 3.5%) to 5%, but as of now it’s still at the 3.5% level. FICO credit score minimums have been raised to 580 (lower FICOs will require a higher down payment). For complete details, here’s the HUD Mortgagee letter.