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42 new Oxnard homes to sell at slashed prices in an auction
Builders are trying other options to move inventory
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Photo by Chuck Kirman / Star staff Oxnard November 27, 2007: Martha Cardenas of Oxnard walks around the Westwind Development where 42 homes will be auctioned off on Sunday, December 2, 2007. She went inside models and drove around the area.
Auction information
For more information on the Oxnard and Santa Barbara auctions go to:
www.kwiauctions.com or www.westwindauction.com
Registration for bidding has to be completed by Thursday at 278 Field St., Oxnard.
The auction begins at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Residence Inn by Marriott River Ridge Hotel, 2101 W. Vineyard Ave., Oxnard.
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The pitch was too hard for Marta Cardenas to resist. After all, who wouldn't want to save a few hundred thousand dollars on a new home.
"I'm curious," said Cardenas, as she wandered around a model home at Westwinds, a development where 42 new homes will be auctioned off Sunday. "I just wanted to see if it was for real."
The developer and the company charged with selling the single-family homes hope Cardenas isn't the only one whose interest is piqued by the prospect of nabbing a highly discounted home. The houses are in a gated community with 150 homes off of Saviers Road, near West Pleasant Valley Road in South Oxnard.
On Sunday, Kennedy Wilson Auction Group will offer the homes for sale, beginning with minimum bids of $295,000 to $375,000. The homes this summer were priced from $537,000 to $619,000.
"Basically, it's driven by the market," said Rhett Winchell, president of the Beverly Hills-based auction firm. "Sales have slowed over the last year, so builders are looking for other options."
Kennedy Wilson, which has offices around Ventura County, is holding a similar auction Dec. 9, featuring nine high-end homes in Santa Barbara. Minimum bids on those homes — listed at up to $1.8 million — are $595,000, according to the company.
In early November, the company sold all 45 condos remaining in a Benicia development and the remaining seven homes in a Pinole project. Some of those Northern California properties sold for $100,000 less than what they'd sold for in the summer. The company also plans to auction homes later this month in Colorado.
The auction has the potential of allowing the developer to clear its unsold homes in 30 days, instead of a year or two it might otherwise take in the current market.
While auctions are typically associated with distressed properties, Winchell said his company has done these types of sales since opening in 1977. But it's become much more common in the past year as the real estate market has stalled.
"I would say it's dramatically increased over the last year," Winchell said.
The company spends about a month "educating people" about the process. That includes a seminar — one was held Sunday. In addition, potential buyers must register and pre-qualify, showing that they can afford the homes. The registration deadline is Thursday.
On the day of the auction, there will be a dry run, giving bidders a sense of how the process works.
"It's very open and transparent for the buyer," said Winchell. "It's a great thing for them because they determine the price."
Nationwide, home prices in several markets have seen some of their steepest declines in years. Ventura County's median price for new and existing homes and condominiums fell to $535,000 in October, a 9.3 percent decline from the same month in 2006.
The sagging market has also been dogged by tighter lending rules, making it difficult for those who are ready to buy, said Gustavo Ramirez, owner of Realty World/Adelante Mortgage in Oxnard.
"In years past, all you needed is a pulse to get a loan," said Ramirez, who has been in the industry for 20 years. "That's changed. Lenders are much more careful now."
In the case of the auction, the seller is offering financing through Republic Mortgage Home Loans or Wachovia with a $5,000 credit toward closing costs. In addition, some buyers might be eligible for $10,000 from the city of Oxnard's affordable housing and rehabilitation program.
Developers typically carry a burden on the loans they use to build. The longer the homes sit unsold, the more they pay.
Mark Schneipp, of California Economic Forecast in Goleta, said done right, the auction is the purest distillation of what the true market value of the homes is at this time.
In essence the auction could "establish the new market value" for homes in that part of Oxnard, he said.
Posted by smithjc on November 28, 2007 at 12:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
too close to aleric street for me.
Posted by radioceleb99 on November 28, 2007 at 4:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Everyday more Economist’s like Robert J. Shiller are expressing concern that the threat of a recession is coming, but there are plenty of other clues that we are facing unprecedented risks. Consider publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trusts ( REIT). Over the last few years most REIT’s performed extremely well. But the fundamentals are deteriorating and the trading values that took years to build could potentially be wiped out in as many months by the those nasty stock market vultures and fast buck artists commonly known as short sellers. Take Equity One (ticker: EQY) as an example of the perfect storm. Equity One is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. While Equity One’s exposure is nationwide it is based in Florida and so is a huge chunk of its portfolio. The double whammy facing Equity One is that unlike a diversified REIT it primarily invests in “retail” real estate. Equity One disclosed in the latest supplement to it’s quarterly report that its overall vacancy rate is already over 6%, but the shocker is the fact that the rate almost doubles (to a little over 12% vacancy) when the tenants shop is less 10,000 sq ft. The real danger for Equity One is that this group of tenants represents over 70% of Equity One’s shopping center revenue. When you consider that less than 30% of Equity One’s current shopping center tenants are Anchor’s (defined as having over 10,000 sq ft.) you really get goose bumps because at least the bigger retailers have the capital reserves to weather the storm. …And you thought only Realtors and builders had it bad.
Posted by guerodrex on November 28, 2007 at 7:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Couldn't pay me to live there! South Oxnard hoodlums and a nearby superfund site. Sounds like a great place to raise a family.
Posted by RelaxPeople on November 28, 2007 at 9:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
yeah, ill pass on saviers road. barf.
Posted by AnalyzeThis on November 28, 2007 at 9:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
NICE....Finally we will see REAL prices for this area. I have a friend that lives in the area and he will be hurt initially, but has no plans on moving for the next 10 years.
Posted by NavalAviator on November 28, 2007 at 10:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Aleric Street? I don't think so! Hookers and gang members. I was stunned that the builder got funding to build there from a bank. Now he is trying to bail out for the amount of the funding and get away from his south Oxnard slum.
Posted by pkck on November 28, 2007 at 12:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What single family in that area could afford the previous price and why? The 50% discount sounds about right for the true value of homes at this time and in that area. True home value has everything to do with sqft, neighborhood, and city and school operations, unless 2-3 families move in a single home. A simple lesson for surrounding communities: "If you don't take gangs, crime, and politics seriously, economic health fails with the plague."
Posted by hotwildflower on November 28, 2007 at 12:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I heard this advertised on the radio this morning and thought the same thing about the area. No way in hell would I want to live there and it isn't even appealing as an investment property because the area will just trash any new home.
This is even a worse area than the homes built off Camino Del Sol and those homes are already looking like ghetto...no thanks!
Posted by AnMa on November 28, 2007 at 1:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Who wants to live by Saviers?? But yet, RiverPark seems to be doing okay. Location, Location, Location.
Posted by RelaxPeople on November 28, 2007 at 4:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
i'll take one. $50k, take it or leave it!?!
Posted by ironwoman on November 28, 2007 at 7:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Do they accept food stamps as down payments?
Posted by Tyrone on November 28, 2007 at 8:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Don't forget this story, featured at this site:
"Seller tries a best-offer strategy"
(search for 'Cheryl Conroy')
It was 4 months ago that the Conroys were dreaming of making a fortune on their home. Guess what... it still hasn't sold.
Posted by ecarson1958 on November 29, 2007 at 7:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Anybody who pays more than the minimum opening bid is going to be losing money. That price will remain stagnate for a minimum of 5 years. If they're planning for a flip as they say, except a flop instead.
Posted by Fred on November 29, 2007 at 4:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Not sure about this one - but nearly all of the auctions have a minimum bid AND a hidden minimum accepted by the bank. Most often these are scams to catch a bunch of suckers excited by an auction who will pay way too much.
A real auction with no hidden minimum will tell you what these places are worth, anything less is pure crapola.
Posted by chili_con_artcarne on November 29, 2007 at 6:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Fred, I agree. If there is a "reserve price" then this isn't a true auction in my book.
Posted by onkhtutan on November 29, 2007 at 10:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
i am resident here and bought high. this is a business decision for the builder and i am fine with this. this is a great quiet community. Ghetto ....not even close. a home was meant to live in for a long time. real estate is a cycle. some buy high some by low . oh well. it will happen again. we love our house, were not flippers, investers etc. i recommend this to any family. we've been here a 1.4 yrs. We plan to stay!
Posted by RelaxPeople on November 30, 2007 at 8:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
snide? no, we just know that there is a better world outside of saviers road.
Posted by venturapagan on November 30, 2007 at 10:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm sorry but I have to agree; they'd have to drop the prices significantly for me to move in. It'd save me the money I'd need to put in bullet proof glass and bars for the doors and windows.....And please don't take this as being racist, but...a few of the nice hispanic ladies I work with live in these nice houses on scary streets, and think the area is great(?), but being white, I'd be terrified to live there. I don't get it. I think they need to raise their standards and make their neighborhoods safer. I would no sooner take a nice house on the Avenue, with all the white druggies/trailer trash there.....
Posted by playstevejones on November 30, 2007 at 11:18 a.m. (Suggest removal)
wow so many negative comments, listen you don't like the area, well guess what stay out.
don't hate for people trying to upgrade, i bet most of the negetaive comments are from people that are hating and can't afford it period, or live in a worst area, you know were. but if you don't like it stay out period.
Posted by playstevejones on November 30, 2007 at 11:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Posted by honestopinion on November 28, 2007 at 7:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Do they accept food stamps as down payments?
answer: why honestopionion? are you try to get in the action,
Posted by ironwoman on November 30, 2007 at 4:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Saviers Road, South Oxnard....hmmm let's see...Upgrade? I think not.
Posted by SummerSun on November 30, 2007 at 9:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I see that sign on Hueneme Road, on my journey's from Malibu, I think holy cow, who in the hell would live in that gang/hooker/superfund site area off Saviers Road. Exactly, what was the lender for that project thinking. (cha-ching) NOT!
Posted by techscan on December 1, 2007 at 11:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"...wow so many negative comments, listen you don't like the area, well guess what stay out."
That's the problem. Get out, stay out, don't go there. That's no way to build community. Remember this is already a gated enclave. By now everyone should know the City of Oxnard cares not one whit for anything except the next northern part of the city developer and fake promises of sales tax revenues. That kind of thing happens when your Development Services Director lives in a Gated Community in Camarillo.
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