More proof that the OC real estate market is improving? Fewer underwater homes… To explain, rising home prices pushed 44,000 Orange County homeowners above water on their mortgages in the last year, making it possible for OC homeowners to refinance or sell their homes at prices well above Great Recession numbers a few years ago.

courtesy of CoreLogic

A recent real estate market report shows that over 60,000 households, or 11%, of home with a mortgage, owed more on their mortgages than their properties were worth during the first quarter of 2013.  However, that number is down almost half from 105,000+ underwater (or upside-down) homes in the county during the first quarter of 2012. At the end of 2012, nearly 23,000 OC homes emerged from being under water.

Nationwide, the report indicates that 9.7 million homes (or almost 20%) with a mortgage were under water during the first quarter of 2013 — 850,000 fewer than at the end of 2012. In California specifically, 1.4 million households (or 21%) of homes with a mortgage were under water during the first quarter.

As the Orange County real estate market continues to improve, Cheryl Marquis and the rest of her skilled real estate team will continue to work with buyers and sellers to purchase the home of their dreams and/or obtain an ideal selling price for the home they are selling.

For more information on OC real estate, or to discuss selling or buying and OC home, contact Cheryl today.