Orange County Housing Market Summary: (dated July 30, 2017)

  • The active listing inventory decreased by 16 homes in the past couple of weeks, and now totals 5,967, nearly the same. The inventory is having a real issue reaching 6,000 homes this year and may have already peaked a couple of weeks ago. Last year, there were 7,317 homes on the market, 1,350 more than today.
  • There are 39% fewer homes on the market below $500,000 today compared to last year at this time and demand is down by 19%. Fewer and fewer homes and condominiums are now priced below $500,000. This price range is slowly disappearing.
  • Demand, the number of pending sales over the prior month, increased by five homes in the past couple of weeks, and now totals 2,835. The average pending price is $842,718.
  • The average list price for all of Orange County remained at $1.6 million. This number is high due to the mix of homes in the luxury ranges that sit on the market and do not move as quickly as the lower end.
  • For homes priced below $750,000, the market is HOT with an expected market time of just 40 days. This range represents 39% of the active inventory and 62% of demand.
  • For homes priced between $750,000 and $1 million, the expected market time is 59 days, a hot seller’s market (less than 60 days). This range represents 18% of the active inventory and 19% of demand.
  • For homes priced between $1 million to $1.25 million, the expected market time is at 94 days, a balanced market that does not favor a buyer or seller.
  • For luxury homes priced between $1.25 million and $1.5 million, the expected market time decreased from 123 to 101 days. For homes priced between $1.5 million to $2 million, the expected market time decreased from 176 to 135 days. For luxury homes priced above $2 million, the expected market time increased from 269 to 280 days.
  • The luxury end, all homes above $1.25 million, accounts for 35% of the inventory and only 13% of demand.
  • The expected market time for all homes in Orange County remained the same over the past couple of weeks at 63 days, a tepid seller’s market (60 to 90 days). From here, we can expect the market time to slowly rise throughout the Summer Market.
  • Distressed homes, both short sales and foreclosures combined, make up only 1.5% of all listings and 2% of demand. There are only 32 foreclosures and 58 short sales available to purchase today in all of Orange County, that’s 88 total distressed homes on the active market, one more than two weeks ago. Last year there were 136 total distressed sales, 54% more than today.
  • There were 3,229 closed sales in June, a 3% increase over May 2017 and a 3% increase over June 2016. The sales to list price ratio was 97.9% for all of Orange County. Foreclosures accounted for just 0.99% of all closed sales and short sales accounted for 0.87%. That means that 98% of all sales were good ol’ fashioned equity sellers.