March Orange County Real Estate Market For Property Up To 600k

May 4, 2011 by Ryan Davison · Leave a Comment

The most recent numbers for the Orange County real estate market is for the month of March. Lets take a look at them now.

Lets take a look at numbers for March on homes up to 600k.

For sale is down, but only 0.3% sold is up 32.2% and pended is up 46.6% (pended is all property that is in the final stages of closing in the current month) The median price is $425,000 which is $25,000 higher then February and the highest it has been in the last 5 months. Days on market is at 93. Sellers are getting 91% of there original list price, and 97% of there current list price. Months of inventory is at 4.8 February had 6.3 months of inventory. This tells me the market is beginning to pick up for the spring months.

A neutral or balanced market is where the months of inventory is 5.5 to 6.4 months.

A buyer’s market exists when the months of inventory is equal to or greater than 6.5 months. With a buyer’s market there is numerous properties for sale and the sellers are more flexible with their price or the offer they will accept. Or, supply exceeds the demand. Basically, the buyer is in the driver’s seat.

A seller’s market exists when the months of inventory is equal to or less than 5.4 months. With a seller’s market there are fewer properties for sale and the sellers are less flexible with their price or the offer they will accept. Or, demand exceeds the supply. Basically, the seller is in the driver’s seat.

Keep in mind that the above statements are a general rule and does not always hold true. I believe the city the property is located in, exact location with in the city, condition of the house, days on market, and the type of sale will dictate who is in the driver’s seat and how a buyer should proceed with an offer.

Keep in mind that these numbers are for all of Orange County.

Filed under Blog, OC Market Report · Tagged with Buyer, Days on market, Inventory, orange county real estate, Orange county real estate market, Property, Real estate, Suggested retail price

January Orange County Real Estate Market On Property Up To 600k

February 22, 2011 by Ryan Davison · 2 Comments

Housing numbers for January have just come out, lets take a look at them now.

For sale is up 5.3% sold is down 26.8% month over month. Now sold means that the property could have been in escrow for 30-90 days or longer and just so happen to sell in January. The more accurate stat to look at is Pended, because this is property that went into escrow in the month of January. Pended is up 30.9%. The median price sits at $350,000, the same as December. Days on market is at 88. Sellers are getting about 93% of there original list price.

As far as values, this segment of the market is holding pretty steady.

Bottom line: If you find a house that you love in a neighborhood you want, jump on it. Even though reports are saying prices are going to be coming down a little bit more, interest rates are on the rise. A 1% increase in interest rates means a 10% drop in purchasing power.

Real Estate – From Contract to Close of Escrow (raincityguide.com)
Santa Ana has O.C.’s fastest-selling homes (lansner.ocregister.com)

Filed under Blog, OC Market Report · Tagged with California, Days on market, OC real estate market, Orange County California, orange county real estate, Orange county real estate market, Property, Real estate

Buy Now Or Wait?

February 5, 2011 by Ryan Davison · Leave a Comment

Buy now or wait? That is the question most buyers have been asking themselves for sometime now. There are many buyers in the market today that are waiting for the bottom of the market to come before they buy. Good idea? Not exactly. There is no way for anyone to predict when the bottom hits until the market goes back up. I feel, as well as other real estate folks that we are very close to the bottom. However with all the shadow inventory slowly coming to the market at discounted prices, and demand for these homes staying where they are at best, prices are going to soften.

Buy now or wait? Regardless of if you buy now or 6 months to 1 year from now, your investment needs to be long term, 5 to 10 years. The danger of waiting, is higher interest rates, meaning higher cost of owning the property. A 1% increase in rates decreases your purchasing power by 10%! Look at the graph below to further prove my point.

My advice. If you find a property you like in a neighborhood you like, jump on it. Your still buying a home in one of the best times in history.

I wish everyone the best of luck and I’m always available to answer any questions you have.

Will Your Real Estate Offer Make the Cut? (dougfrancis.com)

Filed under Blog · Tagged with Buyer, Property, Real estate, Sales, when to buy real estate

December Orange County Real Estate Market On Property Up To 600k

January 29, 2011 by Ryan Davison · Leave a Comment

Housing numbers for December have just come out, lets take a look at them now.

For sale is down 5.1% sold is up 19.8% month over month. Now sold means that the property could have been in escrow for 30-90 days or longer and just so happen to sell in November. The more accurate stat to look at is Pended, because this is property that went into escrow in the month of December. Pended is up 4.4%. The median price sits at $350,000, $10,000 lower then last month, however that is the average dating back 15 months. Days on market is at 82 which is 1 days less then last month. Sellers are getting about 94% of there original list price.

Although prices are coming down just a bit, interest rates are going up slightly so it pretty much balances itself out. Also keep in mind that this is all of Orange County.

Bottom line: If you find a house that you love in a desirable area, jump on it. Especially in this price range, where your dealing with a lot of properties that either have multiple offers or cash from investors. As a buyer It can be frustrating and discouraging. Be patient, the home your looking for is out there, it just may take a little more time they you would like.

	Curnt vs. Prev Month			Curnt vs. Same Month 1 Yr Ago			Curnt vs. Same Qtr 1 Yr Ago
	Dec. 10	Nov. 10	% Change	Dec. 10	Dec. 09	% Change	Oct. 10 to Dec. 10	Oct. 09 to Dec. 09	% Change
For Sale	6502	6855	-5.1%	6502	3848	69%	6778	3896	74%
Sold	1671	1395	19.8%	1671	1709	-2.2%	1543	1776	-13.1%
Pended	1805	1729	4.4%	1805	1654	9.1%	1746	1861	-6.2%

Tenants face rent hikes, bedbugs in 2011 (lansner.ocregister.com)

Filed under Blog, OC Market Report · Tagged with California, OC market Stats, OC real estate, Orange County, Orange County California, Orange county real estate market, Orange County real estate stats, Property, Real estate, real estate market

Whats With Over Pricing?

February 3, 2010 by Ryan Davison · Leave a Comment

It’s been several years since the market switched from a sellers paradise to a buyers bizarre. Yet today, still, homes continue to enter market priced much higher than they should be.

Every indicator available points to this strategy as being the worst thing you can do in a market like the one we are currently still in.

In the past and during hotter markets, overpricing was an excepted practice. Buyers understood and would not hesitate to negotiate. Today, that’s not always the case. Buyers are, for the most part, far more responsible and for good reason. Purchasing a home outside their affordability, could prevent them from getting qualified for the loan they need to get the house. It is in this case, that buyers search for property within the close proximity of affordable price ranges. With this in mind, pricing your home higher than it’s worth simply prevents it from being seen by the largest and often times, most important audience.

Given the access buyers have to the entire listing inventory, they have become fairly good judges of what a good deal is these days. Sometimes all it takes is one glance of the image of your house on a Website and the price point your offering that’s all they need to say thanks but no thanks and move on.

So what are you left with when you overprice a home? How about a piece of property that you no longer want that sits on the market much longer then it needs to be. And that leaves you frustrated as well as your agent who most likely has already tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to represent your best interest.

After a certain point, when your home has sat and not sold, your agent will tell you it’s time for a price reduction, you end up having to “catch the market” (depending on where you live) which literally means if you have been listed for 6 months and for example prices fall 3% a month you will have to come down at least 18% from your current asking price and probably even further once you adjust for the fact that you were overpriced to being with. Which, as we have seen time and time again, render you less that you could have gotten if you priced right to being with.

Solution: Be realistic. take into account all if any foreclosures that are selling around you that could easily affect the market value of your home. As hard as it is, remove your emotional tie to your home. The thing is, you may love your home and all the things you did to it to make it yours but now you are selling it. Soon it and all you did won’t be yours. Let it all go so you can accomplish what you are setting out to do and get into your home and build new emotions.