Orange County CA Real Estate

As we stated in a previous article several weeks ago ( Orange County market is Alive Again ), it is our opinion that the downward pricing is coming to an end here in south Orange County.  If we haven't already reached the bottom of the downward pricing cycle, then we are very close to the bottom.  How can I be so confident you may ask ?  Well as they say, it's all in the numbers.  The internal market statistics that best reveals the constant tug of war between buyers ans sellers is called the Months of Inventory.  The Months of Inventory is basically a ratio of the Inventory of homes for sale by the number of homes that have sold over a period of time.  The higher the months of Inventory, the slower the market and visa versa.  Traditionally, major banks and Title companies (and others) will quote this statistic on a quarterly basis, based upon long term averages of actual homes sold.  The problem with this method of calculating this Stat is, it is 'old news' if you are working in the industry on a daily basis like we are. So we derived our own proprietary indicator back in July of 2002' based upon Inventory of homes for sale, and the number of Homes sold in Escrow, which gives us a much more timely measurement of market conditions.  And our proprietary Months of Inventory calculation has been very accurate as well.

Golf anyone ?  Nestled in the rolling terrain of south Ranch Santa Margarita you'll find the  beautiful community of Alicante which is surrounded by the gorgeous Tijeras Creek public golf course. This community offers resort style living offering many home sites with golf course views, association pool and spa, and hiking and biking trails close by.  Alicante homeowners also have Rancho Santa Margarita lake privileges as well. 

Alicante was developed by JM Peters and construction began in 1989 and the final homes were completed in 1993.  This fine development consists of duplex homes which are attached on one side to only one other home, and comprises of 4 distinct and spacious floor plans as follows:   

• Plan 1 - 1 Story, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1,443 SqFt
• Plan 2 - 1 Story, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1,757 SqFt
• Plan 3 - 2 Story, 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1,936 SqFt
• Plan 4 - 2 Story, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2,168 SqFt

Each home includes a fireplace, 2 car attached garage, interior laundry room, skylights, vaulted ceilings, walk-in closets and landscaped front and backyards.  Prices range from the mid $550K's up to the mid $750K's.  The association includes a swimming pool, tennis courts, and incorporates community landscaping maintenance and property insurance.  The association dues are about $225 per month at the time of the writing of this article. Alicante comprises of the following streets:  Calle Del Norte, Calle Del Sur, Vista Sabana, Via Empanada and Vista Frondosa.

Alicante is located in the award winning Capistrano Unified School District.  the grade school is Arroya Vista Elementary, the intermediate school is Arroya Vista middles school, and the upper classes are conducted at Tesoro High School.  The blue ribbon and award winning Santa Margarita Catholic High School is also located in this city.  Rancho Santa Margarita was incorporated in 2000' and has a population of about 47,000. 

To view all homes listed for sale in Rancho Santa Margarita or if you want to view any homes for sale in Alicante, please visit our website at:  Rancho Santa Margarita Real Estate.

Canyon Villas is a new Condominium community in Aliso Viejo, CA. developed by the Ares Regis Group based in Irvine, CA.  This fine community consists of 344 - 1 and 2 bedroom condominiums. Each unit includes a 1 car garage, nine foot high and vaulted ceilings, interior laundry area, wood burning fireplaces, spacious walk-in closets, and most floor plans have a large private balcony or patio.  Listed below are the 6 distinct Canyon Villas floor plans: 

• Plan A  1 Bedroom, 1 Bath, 543 SqFt
• Plan B  1 Bedroom, 1 Bath, 759 SqFt
• Plan C  2 Bedroom2, 2 Bath2, 947 SqFt
• Plan D  2 Bedrooms, 2 Baths, 1.100 SqFt
• Plan D2  2 Bedrooms, 2 Baths, 1.127 SqFt
• Plan E  2 Bedrooms, 2 Baths, 1.089 SqFt

Canyon Villas were originally built in 1992 as condominiums, but were leased out instead of being sold, back in the early 1990's.  The builder recently renovated the community and placed these Condominium units on the market for sale.  Some of the renovations include; new paint, new carpets, new cabinets, new granite counter tops, new appliances including Microwave, Washer and Dryer. 

The association includes a sparkling pool, spa and landscape and interior maintenance along with basic property insurance.  The association dues are $220 per month (at the time of the writing) and the Mello-Roos is average for the area.

Canyon Villas is conveniently located close to the intersections of Pacific Park and Aliso Creek in the heart of Aliso Viejo, California.  Aliso Viejo has a population of approximately 45,000 people and development began in this city in the late 1980's and early 1990's.  Aliso Viejo incorporates the 3,400 Acre Wood Canyon Regional Park with hiking and biking trails, Aliso viejo Town Center with 20 theater Ciniplex, restaurants, shopping and more.  Also close by is a challenging 27 hole golf course, Soka University, award winning public schools, picturesque beaches and much more.

To view the inside of the Condos at Canyon Villas, please contact us at:  949-388-3396 or email us at:  Info@SearchOCHomes.com   To view all Condominiums and Townhomes listed for sale in Aliso Viejo, visit:  Aliso Viejo Condos for Sale

Our previous blog article ( The Orange County Real Estate Market is Alive Again ! ) caused a bit of controversy, so I thought I would further clarify and elaborate on the previous report...  Someone commented on that previous blog post that I'm calling for a 'Recovery' in the local Orange County real estate market... I never used the word Recovery for in my mind a recovery is a return to last summers peak in pricing and I do not see that occurring this year or next year...  What I did say, is that I see an end to price reductions, which in other words, I'm estimating that we have reached the bottom of the market with regard to price reductions (or very close to the bottom)...

Let's dive into the details of home pricing... but some background first.  The home price figures that many of the newspapers and large banks quote are based upon Quarterly, 6 month or Yearly data of either the Average home price or the Median Home price.  They then usually compare this to the same time period of last year.  The problem with this approach is two fold... One, there is an inherent lag due to the long averaging period of 3, 6 or 12 months coupled with the fact of comparing those averages to 1 year ago.. Two Average home prices can be skewed by a few high price sales, and both Median and Average home prices can be skewed by home owners opting for larger or smaller homes as demographics change. 

News Flash... Sound the Trumpets... Ring the Bells.... After 14 months of  "sitting on the fence", local Orange County CA home Buyers are now starting to jump of that fence and preview homes for sale, make purchase offers and place homes under contract (in escrow).   This has been our personal experience and the experience of many other Realtors we have talked with in recent weeks.  As additional evidence, traffic from our websites has increased dramatically in the past 3 weeks, and our Months of Inventory  Market Statistics graphs has shown a marked decrease in the months of inventory. 

We have collected the data for the below graph of months of inventory has been collected every week since July of 2002'.  As can bee seen on the far right side of the graph the months of inventory has decreased rapidly, which is a result of a dropping inventory of homes for sale and a corresponding increase in the number of homes being recently.  As can be seen in the graph, the months of inventory has been hoovering around 8 months since July of last year and has just recently dropped down to 6 months.