I know… You probably don’t believe me. With all of the negative news we are hearing about the economy, the national housing market, and life in general, it’s hard to think that Orange County real estate might be on its way up! Fortunately for all of us, facts don’t lie and early August home-tracking results hint that the Orange County homebuying slump — 6 months in a row of year-over-year sales declines and a drop that extends to 12 of the last 13 months — may be ending.
DataQuick’s Orange County home buying report for the 22 business days ending August 10 show total sales of 2,593 residences closed in the latest period — up 1.7% vs. a year ago. Even more, 15 of 83 Orange County ZIP codes had both rising sales and prices in the most recently tracked period.
To give you some perspective on how the Orange County real estate market has changed over the years, the median selling price of a single-family home is 32% less than its peak pricing in June ’07. Condos are selling 42% below their peak in March 2006 and builder prices for new homes are 36% below their February ’05 top. This isn’t surprising, as many Orange County real estate experts realized properties were over-priced and that the momentum would not last. What we’re seeing is closer to normal selling prices in Orange County.
Call Cheryl Marquis of Altera Properties for all of your Orange County real estate needs.
