Note: Some of the links below may take you to a blank page with the verbiage, “The content of this email link is no longer available.” These links have expired from the Ventura MLS and are no longer accessible. Ojai MLS links are not affected in this way.
Tuesday, December 31, 2024
10:55 a.m.
There are no new listings today, but the All Listings page has been updated. Have a fantastic New Year’s eve!
Pic of the Day
Monday, December 30, 2024
11:00 a.m.
One new listing has come to the market since Friday:
1975 Maricopa Highway #28 – $425,000
The All Listings page has been updated! Have a great day…
Pic of the Day
Friday, December 27, 2024
12:05 p.m.
There are no new listings for today, but the All Listings and Open House pages have been updated. Have a great weekend!
Pic of the Day
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
10:55 a.m.
There is a new listing on the market:
1225 S. Rice Road #26 – $142,000
The All Listings page has been updated. Have a merry Christmas! The next update may not be until Friday, just FYI.
Pic of the Day
Monday, December 23, 2024
2:55 p.m.
One new listing has come to the market since Friday:
1169 Tico Road – $2,500,000
Recently cancelled, withdrawn, or expired listings – back on the market as “new:”
- 3490 E. Ojai Avenue – $2,950,000 (this had recently expired on 11/29).
Pic of the Day
Friday, December 20, 2024
2:45 p.m.
There is a new “coming soon” listing on the market:
11748 N. Ventura Avenue – $1,395,000 (coming soon, 1/9)
The All Listings and Open House pages have been updated…have a wonderful weekend!
Pic of the Day
Thursday, December 19, 2024
3:05 p.m.
Three new listings have come to the market since Tuesday:
2250 Hermitage Road – $6,500,000
Rose Valley Road – $625,000
309 Canada Street – $1,400,000 (coming soon, 1/8)
The All Listings page has been updated! Additionally, there is some good news on the homeowners insurance front! Below is a press release from the state of California insurance commissioner:
In a California “first,” Commissioner Lara announces enforcement of
regulation to expand insurance coverage across state
News: 2024 Press Release
In a California “first,” Commissioner Lara announces enforcement of regulation to expand insurance coverage across state
Homeowners/businesses will see greater availability, market stability, and recognition for wildfire safety with use of catastrophe modeling
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Today Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara enforced his “first of its kind” catastrophe modeling and ratemaking regulation, a central part of his Sustainable Insurance Strategy to increase coverage in wildfire-distressed areas of the state. The Department of Insurance posted the final regulation after the Office of Administrative Law filed it with the Secretary of State, officially concluding a rulemaking process that saw strong public support over the past year.
“Giving people more choices to protect themselves is how we will solve California’s insurance crisis,” said Commissioner Lara. “For the first time in history we are requiring insurance companies to expand where people need help the most. With our changing climate we can no longer look to the past. We are being innovative and forward-looking to protect Californians’ access to insurance.”
What it means: Expanding coverage for Californians in wildfire-distressed areas
Major insurance companies must increase the writing of comprehensive policies in wildfire distressed areas equivalent to no less than 85% of their statewide market share, whereas there is no current legal requirement today for insurers to commit to providing any coverage in high-risk areas. Smaller and regional insurance companies must also increase their writing.
Result of expanded public engagement: The new regulation is the result of expanded public engagement. The Department of Insurance held three workshops and hearings in 2024, which were attended by more than 1,000 interested parties, gathering input and receiving hundreds of public comments which helped shape this regulation. Commissioner Lara has met with tens of thousands of Californians since taking office as well as testifying at four legislative briefings about his Sustainable Insurance Strategy over the past year.
Incorporation of wildfire mitigation efforts: Building on Commissioner Lara’s “Safer from Wildfires” initiative — the nation’s first wildfire safety discount program — the regulation requires catastrophe models to account for mitigation efforts by homeowners, businesses, and communities, something not currently possible under existing outdated regulations today.
Ensuring the integrity of models: As part of implementing the new regulation, Commissioner Lara announced the hiring of Kara Voss as model advisor — a newly created position at the Department — to oversee the process of examining model integrity and ensuring public review in accordance with the newly established regulation. Voss has expertise in catastrophe modeling for wildfire and flooding events as a member of the Climate and Sustainability Branch. Under the regulation, once a model has undergone a pre-application required information determination (PRID), insurance companies can utilize that model in a rate filing listing their commitments to write more policies. The Department will accept PRID petitions starting January 2, 2025 and expects the process to be complete within months.
Supporting a public model: The regulation supports the development of a public catastrophe model, currently being considered by a strategy group of researchers and education leaders led by Cal Poly Humboldt. Recommendations on how to create a public catastrophe model are due from the strategy group to Commissioner Lara by April 2025.
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The main thing that concerns me about some of the above verbiage is that it sounds like it may encourage some insurers to require draconian measures of their homeowners to “qualify” for a policy. This is already occurring with some insurers (right here in Ojai), with them requiring property landscaping changes under threat of policy cancellation. In some cases, these measures are costing homeowners $20,000 (and up) to accomplish. We’ll need to wait a few months to see how this plays out. – Ray
Pic of the Day
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
11:20 a.m.
There are no new listings today, but the All Listings page has been updated. I’ve also added a column to indicate whether a listing has been reduced or increased in price, with a simple ▲ or ▼ symbol. I am starting this today, however, I won’t be retroactively going back to do this for all the listings currently on the page.
I mentioned driving through town in yesterday’s blog entry, but I forgot to mention another item. We were directly behind a vehicle that had a bumper sticker that read, “Ph♥jai.” We spent the next 5 minutes debating whether this is supposed to be read as “Phojai” or “Pheartjai.” Any clues? Feel free to email me at [email protected]!
Pic of the Day
Monday, December 16, 2024
11:40 a.m.
One new listing has come to the market since Friday:
The All Listings page has been updated! In addition to the update, I’m going to try something new today. Unless it becomes too much of a pain, any changes on the All Listings page that have occurred subsequent to to the prior update (typically 24 hours) will appear on the list in green – to aid in locating the recent changes. I hope this makes the page a bit more usable for you!
On another note, a drive through town last night led me to see the beautiful lights along the Arcade and in Libbey Park! Kudos to whomever added the lights this year – it looks magical and festive!
Pic of the Day
Friday, December 13, 2024
12:30 p.m.
There are no new listings for today, however, the All Listings and Open House pages have been updated. Looks like it’ll be a slow season for new listings until at least after the New Year. Have a great weekend!
Pic of the Day
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
2:05 p.m.
There are no new listings for today, but the All Listings page has been updated.
Pic of the Day
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
2:05 p.m.
The All Listings page has been updated; there are no new listings for today.
Pic of the Day
Monday, December 9, 2024
1:35 p.m.
There are no new listings on the market; the All Listings page has been updated!
Pic of the Day
Friday, December 6, 2024
3:30 p.m.
There are two new listings on the market:
813 Quail Street – $1,559,000
11220 N. Ventura Avenue – $595,000
The All Listings and Open House pages have been updated. Have a wonderful weekend!
Pic of the Day
Thursday, December 5, 2024
1:35 p.m.
There are no listings at this point in the day, but of course the All Listings page has been updated!
Pic of the Day
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
12:50 p.m.
There are no new listings for today, however, the All Listings page has been updated!
Pic of the Day
Monday, December 2, 2024
2:50 p.m.
There is a new “coming soon” listing on the market:
717 W. Villanova Road – $1,179,000 (coming soon, 12/5)
Here’s a market check-in as we head towards the holiday season and into the New Year: Over the last 3 months – 9/2/24 to 12/2/24 – there have been 59 total sales for residential properties. 47 consisted of the single-family residential variety, while 12 were mobile homes. Of the total 59 properties sold, 22 of the 59 were sold at either full price or above full price, with the breakdown as follows:
Single-family Homes
47 sales total
Full-price sales: 6
Above full-price sales: 11
Mobile Homes
12 sales total
Full-price sales: 3
Above full-price sales: 2
The point of this exercise is to highlight that it is STILL a bit of a seller’s market. Not as crazy as 2020 to 2022, but I expect this will continue into 2025 – especially as spring ramps up!
The All listings page has been updated!
Pic of the Day
