From the category archives:

Median and Average Home Prices

Aliso Viejo Home Prices

by vbindi on August 11, 2009

Today, there are 46 detached single family homes listed for sale in Aliso Viejo, Orange County, Ca. The lowest priced home is valued at $399,900. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1,400 square foot house, located in the Hamptons subdivision. The highest priced home is $1,149,000 for a 4 bedroom, 5 bath, 3,737 square foot estate built in 2008, featuring view of the golf course and city lights. The current median price is $457,472.

There are 66 detached homes located in the city of Aliso Viejo that are now pending in escrow. The lowest priced property currently in escrow is valued at $339,000. It is a charming 2 bedroom + loft, 3 bathroom, 1,100 square foot home built in 1996. This property is conveniently located directly across the street from an elementary school. The highest priced property currently in escrow is priced at $1,250,000. It is a 3,400 square foot, 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom estate located on a cul-de-sac, offering a fully equipped entertainers backyard and a stunning panoramic view. The median price of homes currently in escrow is $650,000.

In the past 90 days, there have been 80 detached properties that have sold and closed escrow in Aliso Viejo. The lowest sales price for a detached property was $340,000 for an attractive 3 bedroom, 3 bath, 1,301 square foot home built in 1998. The highest priced property sold was a 5 bedroom, 5 bath, 3,757 square foot estate located in the Silver Oaks gated community. This home was valued at $1,135,000 and its features included a large, lush yard and a breathtaking canyon view from virtually every room. The median home price is $538,000 and the average sales price in the past 3 months was $566,923. The average price per square foot was $281/SqFt. The average days on market was 65 days.

For more information about Aliso Viejo Real Estate,  please feel free to call us at: 949-388-3396

Condo Prices Rising in Orange County – 2009′

by vbindi on July 16, 2009

This is not a mis-print.  Condo prices have actually gone up about 15% in the past 7 months in south Orange County Ca.    I know it sounds hard to believe in the mist of the the severe recession and the drastic real estate downturn that started back in the Spring of 2006′…  so let me explain.

First some background…. eVantage Real Estate has been collecting statistics for the south Orange County residential real estate since July of 2002′ on a weekly basis. We’ve been charting Months of Inventory, Active vs Pending and Price per Square Foot using our own proprietary indicators which are more time responsive and accurate compared to what is published by the traditional sources.(ie: Major Banks, Title Co’s, News Periodicals).  Most of the major media outlets us 3 to 6 month averages of the prices of homes sold.  Two big problems with this technique.  One, it is delayed in time by about 6 months.  Two, if  the buying habits of the local public changes, and you use average prices of homes sold, then you will produce mis-leading data.  In other words, currently there are many more lower priced homes and condos selling right now to first time homebuyers and investors, then there are Million dollar homes being sold, compared to the sales habits of 2 years ago.  Here is a simple example of what I am talking about… If you Average together 10 Condo sales at $250,000 each,  with one home sale of $2 Million, and compare that to 7 Condo Sales at $350,000 , and 4 homes sales at $2.5 Million from 2 years ago, you will get erroneous numbers.  The Average will tell you that home prices have dropped by 63%… but using this example, Condo prices have only dropped 28%… Gross example, but useful to illustrate the point that this is what is occurring in the south Orange County marketplace.

Below is our Graph of the Months of Inventory of homes in 5 different prices range.  The high end of the market above $1Million, is still very soft at about 12 months of Inventory (a soft Buyers market)… but the low end of the market is a very Hot Sellers market at less then 1 Months of Inventory.  There are many more $200,000 Condos that are selling now, and not very many $2Million estates are selling, as compared to 2 years ago… and this change of buying habit will greatly effect the Average Price of Homes Sold.

So how does one better represent the actual price values of homes ?… Back in July of 2002′ we devised a rolling average Price per Square Foot indicator – one for Condos and another for detached Single Family Homes.  These indicators are much more time sensitive, and more importantly, are not affected by the changing buying habits of the local marketplace.

The Graph below shows our Price per Square Foot indicator.   As we have estimated some months ago, the strong demand at the lower end would actually result in a rise in prices in the near future… and sure enough it has… As can be seen in this graph, the Condo market has now seen a jump in actual sales prices of about 10 to 20% in the past 7 months ….   Albeit, many of these sales have been Bank foreclosed REO’s and Short Sales… but the strong demand for this price level of product, coupled with the relatively low supply, has driven up sales prices for lower priced Condos in the past 7 months.  There is simply not enough inventory to fill the demand, so buyers have been bidding up prices in the low end of the pricing range…  In addition, the detached homes Price per Square Foot indicator has be leveling off now for about 5 months..

The Million dollar question is – does this signal the long term bottom, or is this a short term reaction, with more downside to go… Well I wish I knew the exact answer… My educated guess is this super hot demand will subside somewhat  in the future, and Inventory will rise somewhat.  I think prices may hold at these levels, or possibly drip down a bit more, and then a long term bottoming process will set in before prices begin to rise long term…

Laguna Niguel Home Prices

by vbindi on June 24, 2009

There are currently 193 detached homes listed for sale in Laguna Niguel – Orange County, Ca.  There prices range from $449,900 for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,303 SqFt home up to $8,995,000 for a 6 bedroom, 8 bath, 10,000 square foot 8 car garage estate in Monarch Point.  The Median price is $989,000, and the average price is $1,432,688.  Average price per square foot is $404/SqFt and average days on market is 106 days.

For detached homes, there are 82 properties currently under contract in escrow in Laguna Niguel.  These properties range in price from $435,800 for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,446 square foot home, on up to $2,990,000 for a 5 bedroom, 7 bath, 6,000 square foot, 6 car garage estate in the Coronado Pointe community.   The median price of homes currently in escrow is $695,000.

In the past 60 days, there have been 67 detached homes that have sold and closed in Laguna Niguel.  These homes range from $340,000 for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,341 square foot home, on up to $5,040,000 for a 5 bedroom, 6 bath, 6,300 square foot estate in the Bear Brand Ranch tract.  The median price home is $750,000 and the average price home that sold in the past 2 months was $1,037,332.  The average price per square foot was $345/SqFt and average days on market was 108 days.

One year ago at this same 60 day time period, there were 95 homes that have sold and closed escrow in Laguna Niguel.  These homes ranged in price from $480,000 for a 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,450 square foot home, on up to $4,400,000 for a 5 bedroom, 6 bath, 7,600 square foot estate in the South Peak subdivision. The median sold home price was $799,500 and the average price was $998,803.  The average price per square foot was $367/SqFt and average days on market was 79 days, just one year ago.

Comparing today’s prices to one year ago prices we find the following;   The Median price has dropped by 6%.  The average home price has actually gone up by 3.8%.   The Price per Square Foot has dropped by 6%.    For more information about Laguna Niguel Real Estate, please feel free to call us at:  949-388-3396

HOT Real Estate Market in Orange County, CA. – May, 2009′

by vbindi on May 27, 2009

Yes, you read that correctly, in the price ranges of $650,000 and below, most of Orange County is now in a Hot Sellers Market.  In the price range of $450,000 and below, the Months of Inventory is a hot 1.1 Months for south Orange County… 2 to 4 months is considered to be a Sellers market, and below that is a hot Sellers market.   In contrast, the Months of Inventory for this price range was at 19 months in October of 2007′.  The number of  homes now in escrow is at 916 properties in the price range of Below $450,000… this Pending Homes total has not been this high since August of 2003′ .  Below is a graph of the Months of Inventory for all of the price ranges we track, since July of 2002′.

In the price range of $450,000 to $650,000, the Months of Inventory is at 1.8 months, which is also a hot sellers market.  Albeit, about 60% of these sales are either bank owned REO properties or short sales, but these are real sales with real buyers none-the-less.  This is resulting in  multiple purchase offers within days of listing properties on the market for sale for well priced Bank Owned REO’s and Short Sales.

Where is all of  the demand coming from you may ask?  Well, it is a combination of investors and first time homebuyers who have been sitting on the fence for the past 4 to 5 years. Investors with cash are buying for they can now get a decent yield with a down payment of 30%. Many investors feel that most, if not all, of the downside risk in the local real estate market is behind us. And many are leery of the stock market, and CD yields are now very low… First time home buyers are also now buying.  Fixed interest rates are now at all time historic low, and there is pent up demand from the low rate of sales in the past 2 years.  My hats off to their discipline and timing…

The Months of Inventory is a leading indicator, which has been dropping to today’s lows for many months now.  Another one of the proprietary indicators that we gather are moving averages of the Price per Square foot for both Condos and Detached homes.  This is a lagging indicator, although much more accurate then the Average or Median prices that are quoted in the press.  This Price per Square foot indicator has been holding steady now for the past 5 weeks, which is another indication that we have approached the bottom.

The Million Dollar Question is . . . is this the bottom of the Orange County real estate market ?  My sense is, if this is not the bottom, then we are very close to the bottom… but, I believe it will be a long drawn out bottom, with no noticeable price appreciation for several years… The reason being -  I believe  over heated inflation will return in a year or so, due to the recent government policies of flooding the US economy with billions of dollars cash.  When this happens, the Feds will raise interest rates to curb inflation, which will put a damper on real estate price appreciation.

Orange County Real Estate CA. — the Bottom may be near.

by Vincent Bindi on October 21, 2008

There is lots of worry in the residential marketplace today in Orange County, Ca. Prices have dropped about 30% to 35% from their peak values that occurred in the summer of 2006′. But I see some signs that we may be reaching the bottom of this pricing downturn. How you may ask ?

First sign… I have been tracking the internal market stats for residential real estate in south Orange county, CA since July of 2002′ on a weekly basis. I’ve been charting Months of Inventory, Active vs Pending and Price per Square Foot using our own proprietary indicators which are more time responsive by about 4 to 6 months then what is published by the traditional sources.(ie: Major Banks, Title Co’s).   The Months of  Inventory is a very sensitive indicator that is a leads the movement of prices by about 6 months.  The Months of Inventory dramatically dropped about 4 months ago, and if the rate holds, I expect prices to bottom out by the end of this year.  Now this indicator does not have any long term predictive powers, and if interest rates where to dramatically rise, of the lending markets where to freeze up and become illiquid then all bets are off.   (See Chart Below)

Second Sign — I know a little bit about the stock market, and one of the signs indicating that a bottom may have been reached is if the stock price does not react negatively upon the release of negative news that should have affected the stock.  I’ve noticed this phenomena in real estate prices. Albeit the price movement in real estate move at a much slower pace then stocks. During the tragedy of 9-11-01, the Orange County, Ca real estate market slowed done, but prices did not budge.  Then at the beginning of the following year, prices continued to rise.  During the the financial meltdown that started about 3 weeks ago, in which many financial advisers where fearful that this may have started a Great Depression II, the number of homes under contract (In Escrow), hardly changed.  Sure we new of a few clients here and there, who backed out of their transactions, but I was expecting a large number of contract cancellations… but it didn’t happen.  Evidently, the vast majority of buyer in escrow during this time feel confident that they are buying property at bargain basement prices.  That I say is a sign of an approaching pricing bottom.  See the graph below that shows that the number of homes in escrow, has essentially held steady for the past 6 months.  In addition, the number of homes in escrow has nearly tripled since the 20 year low set in January of this year, while the number of homes Active for sale has dropped considerably. (see graph below)

Orange County Home Prices Revealed

by Vincent Bindi on January 2, 2008

There is much confusion and accidental mis-information about the current state of  Home and Condo Prices in Orange County, CA.   Part of the confusion results in the unique market conditions we are now in in which the lower end of the house pricing spectrum is more negatively impacted then the higher end.  The accidental mis-information comes into play by the established organizations that report on housing prices (ie: DataQuick, Major Banks, Major Title Companies) who rely on Average and Median prices, versus Average Price per Square foot.  When you couple to two events together, you wind up with some confusing housing price information. 

We’ll illustrate the conflicting numbers, and then hopefully give some clarity to the subject.  But first some basic definitions.   The Average for homes prices, is simply the sum total of the sales prices of all homes sold in a certain area (ie: Orange County, Santa Ana) during a certain period of time (ie: 12 months, 6 months, 3 months), and then dividing by that total number of homes sold. 

The Median is determined by taking the same list of sold homes, and calculating the sales price at which half of the homes sold were below this price, and half of the homes sold were above this price.  Although the Median is a bit harder to calculate, it is considered to be a bit more accurate representation, since the Average can be more easily skewed to the high side by a few very high priced homes sales during the period.  Both of these calculations though, can give mis-leading representations when you have a change in buyer habits… which is exactly what is happening now in Orange County. 

As an example of the confusion caused by Averages and Median in a changing market, take a look at this recent DataQuick report by the Orange County Register reporting Median home prices for all cities in Orange County.  Buena Park is showing a 20% drop in prices, while Cypress is showing a 6% increase in the same time period.  Dana Point shows a 21% increase in prices, while the adjacent city of Laguna Niguel shows a 10% drop during the same period.  What gives ?  Logic dictates that something is wrong with this type of statistical analysis.  The misleading statistics are a result of looking at Median and Average prices, instead of Price per Square Foot, and also combining Condo sales with detached Home sales. 

Below is a table of statistics that we gathered for the Average, Median and Price per Square Foot for the Past 3 months (Sept, Oct, Nov), and the same calculations for the same 3 month period 1 Year ago, for various Cities throughout Orange County, for detached Homes only (not including condos).  As can be seen, some Cities show only a small drop in Average home prices, and others yield an increase in the Average price, but a decrease in the Median price… while a few other cities are actually reporting an increase of almost 17% to 35% in the past year in Average or Median prices.  For instance, Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano are showing large increases in the Average or Median prices in the past 12 months.  But ask anyone on the street, and they tell you this is preposterous.  The actual truth about home pricing in these two cities (and the rest for that matter) are more closely revealed by looking at the Price per Square Foot which shows a 5.8% drop in Dana Point and a 10.5% drop in San Juan Capistrano.

Sept, Oct, Nov  2006′

City Average Median Price per SqFt
Anaheim       600,565       585,000      416
Orange       763,933       690,000      404
San Juan Capistrano       936,449       766,000      421
Costa Mesa       826,849       743,500      488
Mission Viejo       737,033       689,900      378
Laguna Niguel     1,085,506       905,000      419
Fullerton       713,397       629,000      394
Dana Point     1,516,212       980,000      644
Irvine       953,457       800,000      431

Sept, Oct, Nov  2007′

City Average Median Price per SqFt
Anaheim       514,599       495,000      341
Orange       722,213       607,000      348
San Juan Capistrano     1,236,999    1,039,925      377
Costa Mesa       759,597       720,000      443
Mission Viejo       730,547       639,000      347
Laguna Niguel       987,340       860,000      386
Fullerton       690,645       627,000      363
Dana Point     1,784,459    1,300,000      608
Irvine       974,121       760,000      413

t size="4">Percent (%) Change in Past Year

City Average Median Price per SqFt
Anaheim -14.3% -15.4% -18.0%
Orange -5.5% -12.0% -13.9%
San Juan Capistrano 32.1% 35.8% -10.5%
Costa Mesa -8.1% -3.2% -9.2%
Mission Viejo -0.9% -7.4% -8.2%
Laguna Niguel -9.0% -5.0% -7.9%
Fullerton -3.2% -0.3% -7.9%
Dana Point 17.7% 32.7% -5.6%
Irvine 2.2% -5.0% -4.2%

How can this be you may ask ?  In the past 12 months, there have been fewer entry level buyers purchasing lower price detached homes using low down payment financing in Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano.  While there has been a relativity larger percentage of higher income buyers purchasing larger – higher priced homes, but at sales prices substantially lower then they were 1 year ago.  

The major reporting agencies (DataQuick, Banks, Title Companies) have relied upon  Averages and Median prices for years since this data is easier to gather then Price per Square Foot, and is also easier for the average consumer to relate too.  A newspaper Headline that reads “Average Home prices in Irvine have now reached $800,000″ is a lot more eye catching then to say “Average Price per Square Foot in Irvine has now reached $433″…   But as can been seen by the above tables, Averages and Medians can offer some very mis-leading conclusions about home prices during times of change in a marketplace.

Current Real Estate Conditions in Orange County, CA.

by Vincent Bindi on November 26, 2007

We have been tracking the Months of Inventory in south Orange County, Ca. along with Active versus Pending sales, and Price per Square statistics, since July of 2002′.  As most everyone is aware, the real estate market here is southern California has slowed down substantially compared to 2 years ago.  Homes are setting on the market for sale much longer,  prices has decreased substantially, and mortgage loan delinquencies have resin dramatically. 

But in the midst of all of this bad press, we have noticed a very interesting trend… albeit a short term one.  For the past 7 weeks, the number of homes Pending in escrow has been steadily increasing for homes priced less then $450,000.  On October 8, 2007 there were 84 homes under contract in escrow in this price range in south Orange County, Ca.   That number has steadily increased and now stands at 150 homes pending in escrow.  That’s an increase of  21% in the midst of all of the negative press, and the traditional seasonal holiday slow down in the local marketplace. 

What is this due to one may ask ?  Well it is certainly NOT due to “not ready for prime time” home buyers who are using zero down, stated income purchase money loans, for those loan programs essentially have been deleted from the marketplace.  What we do see is the drop in home prices by about 10% to 15% that has occurred in the past 10 months, has resulted in seasoned prospective home buyers and investors now seeing some true values in the marketplace who are increasingly making offers to purchase.  Will this continue throughout next year ?  Well it may be too soon to draw any type of long term conclusions, but I think that this is a good early indicator. 

Our charts of Price per Square foot for both detached SFR’s and Condo’s, has shown that the peak in home pricing occurred in May of last year at about the $407/SqFt level for detached homes.  Prices have been slowly decreasing since that time to a level of $356/SqFt today for detached single family homes.  This represents a decrease of 12.5%, and since closed sales prices are always a lagging indicator, and given the recent sales that I have seen in certain areas, I predict this number will show prices having already fallen to a level of 15% to 20% for certain areas and product types.

For more information about the local real estate market here in Orange County Ca., please feel to call us at:  949-388-3396 or drop us an email at:  Info@SearchOCHomes.com  or Text Message us at:  (949) 283-4679.   

Real Estate Market Stats for So. Orange County, CA.

by Vincent Bindi on October 23, 2007

As most everyone knows by now, the Orange County Real Estate market has been taking a beating in the past 12 months.  The rate of sales is at it’s lowest level in 20 years. And, unlike the mis-information reported elsewhere, prices have already dropped by 10% or more…  But there may a ray of hope. 

As shown above, we have been charting the Months of Inventory since July of 2002′.  A significant drop in the months of inventory just occurred for the first time since May of this year.  This is due to the number of homes active for sale slowly and steadily decreasing since August, and more importantly, there has been an increase in the number of homes Pending In Escrow in the past two weeks (See chart at the bottom). Home prices started to decline starting back in June of last year (2006’), and a few more buyers are jumping off the fence and purchasing homes at this low prices. (See chart below)

The above chart shows price per Square Foot for both detached homes and attached Condos, for cities in south Orange County, excluding the beach towns (ie: San Clemente, Dana Point, etc.), for we have found that a few Ocean Front estate sales throws a wrench in the stats for that month.  Price per Square Foot is a more accurate measurement of the percentage movement of home prices. Compared to Median or Average prices, the Price per Square Foot is more immune to changing buyers habits, such as more buyers buying more bigger homes now versus more smaller homes years ago.   As you can see in the Price per Square foot graph below, home prices peaked in April of 2006’ at about $410 per square foot, and have since pulled back to about $364 per square foot today, which represents a drop of about 11%.  Also, these closed sales prices actually lag behind a changing market since they are based upon last months closed sales.  Today, homes on average are selling at about 3% to 4% less then their asking prices, and asking prices today are based mostly on recent sales (if not a bit lower). 

Therefore, I expect that in the next several months (Jan of 08’), we’ll see this Price per Square Foot graph drop down another 4% or so to about $345 per square foot.  This would place home values at the same level they were at back in May of 2004’, and would  represent an overall drop in prices of about 15% from the peak in pricing.  If the prospective fence sitting buyers continue jumping off that fence, which I expect they will, homes prices should hold at about the $345 per square foot level for most of 2008’, and then probably start to gradually rise in laste 2008′ or early 2009′.  Based upon most every previous year, I also expect the number of sales (Pending homes In Escrow) to gradually rise as well starting in Jan of 08’.  

I have a hunch that this correction is going to work it’s way through much faster then the previous correction back in the early 1990’s  The last price correction started around early  1990, and lasted until 1996 or so… 6 years.   Back then The OC went Bankrupt and  many jobs were lost and the population decreased.  Also, that was before the Internet age when Buyers and Sellers got most of their information from agents, appraisers, lenders, and the newspapers.  Now, a prospective buyer/seller can hop on the Web and instantly gather market info via graphs, charts, reports, research, etc… which ultimately enables them respond in a more timely and less emotional way, which I think will result in this being a much shorter duration correction then the 1990’s

Bargain Home Price in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA.

by Vincent Bindi on October 19, 2007

There are some great bargain home prices now available for sale in Rancho Santa Margarita.   There are currently 260 detached homes for sale ranging in price from a low of  $399,900 for a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 913 square foot home on Calle Del Los Ninos street in the Los Abanicos tract, on up to $2,995,999 for a 9 bedroom, 5.5 bath, 7,179 square foot estate on Hamilton trail in the Hamilton Oak subdivision.  The Median price of these 260 homes is $725,000.

Compared to the third quarter of 2005′, the average price per square foot of detached homes that sold and closed 1.5 years ago was $372/SqFt.  Today, the average price per square foot of these 260 homes active for sale is $350/SqFt, which represents a 6% drop in prices based upon the asking price.  And today, detached homes are selling for about 4% below their asking prices.  So the expected drop in prices at this time will be about 10%. 

There are 230 attached condos currently for sale in Rancho Santa Margarita.  These range in price from $159,900 up to $789,900.  Median $398,900   Price per Square Foot is $363/SF.  1.5 years ago the price per square foot for condominiums sold and closed was $397/SqFt.  This represents a drop of 8.5% based upon asking prices, and most likely many of these homes will sell for less.  Currently on average, condos are selling at about 3% less then their asking prices.  So the expected current drop in sales prices from 1.5 years ago for Condos in Rancho Santa margarita is 11.5%.

If you have been sitting on the fence waiting for prices to drop, they have, and now would be a good time to begin searching for a bargain priced home.  There are several little known zero down loan programs (CalHFA, Acorn) with below market FIXED interest rates, that allow you to purchase a home up to a maximum of $500K.  If you would like more information on these great loan opportunities, or if you want to view the inside of some of the bargain priced homes, please give us a call at:  949-388-3396 or Text Message at:  949-283-4679, or email us at:  Info@SearchOCHomes.com

Signs that the Orange County Real Estate Market may be close to the Bottom

by Vincent Bindi on September 26, 2007

Predicting the tops or bottoms of any market such as Stocks, Bonds or Real Estate, is educated guess work at best.  But there are usually tell-tale signs that often appear around tops and bottoms that give one a sense of  ‘seeing the light at the end of a tunnel’.  That may be happening now in the Orange County CA. residential real estate marketplace. 

Tell-tale sign number one, has to do with the subprime lending debacle.   A dismal milestone may soon move into the housing market’s rear view mirror.  Homeowners owing a total of $31.8 billion in subprime adjustable-rate mortgages began paying higher interest rates this  month of September.

That is the highest amount of subprime ARM’s due to reset over a one-month period in this housing cycle.  By December resetting subprime ARM’s are forecast to drop to $25.2 billion. By the end of 2008, they will have fallen to $3.6 billion.  The reason being is that  lenders have largely stopped making such loans to borrowers with spotty credit histories back at the beginning of this year..

The large volume of interest-rate resets to higher levels, has been the largest factor in the jump in foreclosures in the past 16 months.  In August, foreclosure filings rose 36% from the previous month and were up 115% from last year.  As ARM resets reached it’s peak, more homeowners will have trouble meeting payments.

Granted, there will be a delayed affect of anywhere from 6 to 12 months.  Here’s why… homeowners who have an interest rate reset increase this month don’t automatically stop making payments the next month.  Many will try to hang in there, and some will run out of financial gas in 3, 4 or 6 months, then it takes anywhere from 5 to 8 months for the mortgage banks to foreclosure and put the REO property on the market for sale…. So the negative effect of this months the peak in the mortgage rate resets, probably won’t be felt in the market as lower priced bank REO properties for sale, until sometime in the Spring and Summer of 2008′.  While we may see additional weakness in the months ahead one might argue that a record supply of foreclosure homes for sale, combined with a peak in ARM resets, means the housing market is near a bottom. 

The other tell-tale sign, is the very low rate of sales as compared to history.  As we wrote about a month ago and as reported in the OC Register newspaper, the low volume of home sales in Orange County CA. is currently at a 20 year low.  Current sales volume is a bit lower then it was back in 1995 when the real estate market hit bottom here locally, and Orange County declared bankruptcy.  Many large volume markets such as Stocks, Bonds and even Real Estate will tend to fluctuate from extreme highs and extreme lows.  Given that Orange County now has considerable higher population and a greater number of homes then it did in 1995, one would have to conclude that today’s low sales numbers can’t last much longer and will gradually return to more normal levels.  One of the big difference between Stocks/Bonds and Real Estate, is that the former will make turn around in a matter of months, while Real Estate takes years to correct and adjust.

If you are a potential Buyer waiting on the side lines, you may want to get ready and start to look closely at some of the pricing opportunities coming on the market now in the form of Bank Owned REO properties ans Short Sale foreclosures.  If you would like to receive a list of low priced foreclosures, bank REO’s, and short sales as they come on the market for sale, via email, visit our website at: www.OCBargainHomes.com  

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →