[quote author="movingaround" date=1208910297]are you talking about ventura county or ventura city?
I also noticed on the hotpads foreclosure map that there were very few foreclosures in ventura. This really surprised me as the prices there really ran up. I don't have any numbers but I know from anecdotal evidence that prices have dropped quite a bit and that there aren't many buyers. I personally think they still have farther to go based on all the fundamental information presented on this site - rent equivalents, median income vs. median home price, etc.</blockquote>
I am speaking of Ventura City, but it is part of a larger metro are composing of Oxnard and Camarillo and directly borders Oxnard.
They have had limited expansion in the past 5 years, the city tries to limit expansions and the majority of the residents have been here for 10 years or more as there hasn't been a jump in job growth for the area and Ventura isn't exactly 'the place to be' so younger people are not attracted to area. Ventura houses many Santa Barbara commuters which provides additional stability. The prices may have run up, but properties have not been purchased at the record levels experienced elsewhere. So the concern I have for the area is the refinancing on the equity that may have taken place as those property values ran up, which has yet to be seen but is soon coming. Case in point is the townhome I am currently interested in. Its a 3bd, 2 bath, 1300 sqft unit with 290/month HOA purchased in 1999 for 130,500 with refinancing history of 150,000 in 2003, and 130,500 in 2005. (i may be wrong here, this is just the history that I have gathered from Zillow, I am not sure if those values shown are refinancing where equity is pulled or not) The house is about as upgraded as you can get and I estimate 50-60k in improvements on the property. Property has been on the market for 9 months and was first listed at 399k, then reduced to 385k in early April. It's price does not reflect the surrounding properties which are listed anywhere from 290-330, though those properties are not nearly as nice.
Ventura County is very diverse in the types of markets. Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, and Westlake are primarily bedroom communities to LA. Camarillo is considered a bedroom community to both LA but also the industry located in Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, and the local Naval bases. Oxnard houses most of the agricultural community and has a few manufacturing facilities. The 2 Naval bases in the area provide a very stable job market (especially in times of recession) for a good percentage for Port Hueneme, Oxnard, Camarillo, and Ventura. These bases are primarily R&D;bases for the Navy and have large civilian populations. There are also a few industrial complexes in the Oxnard area.
Oxnard, which borders Ventura, has experienced major expansion and development in the past 10 years and the town is riddled with foreclosures and price drops. Oxnard is listed as one of the hot spots in the recent housing data for March and may be one of the factors dragging down Ventura values in addition to the market as a whole.
