Orange County Housing Market Summary
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The active listing inventory increased by 197 homes in the past two weeks, up 5%, and now totals 4,178. Expect the inventory to increase from now through mid-Summer. Last year, there were 4,460 homes on the market, 282 more than today.
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There are 26% fewer homes on the market below $500,000 today compared to last year at this time and demand is down by 12%. Fewer and fewer homes and condominiums are now priced below $500,000. This price range is slowly disappearing.
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Demand, the number of pending sales over the prior month, increased in the past two-weeks by 155 pending sells, up 7%. The average pending price is $876,310.
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The average list price for all of Orange County remained at $1.8 million over the past two weeks. 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.
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For homes priced below $750,000, the market is HOT with an expected market time of just 31 days. This range represents 35% of the active inventory and 58% of demand.
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For homes priced between $750,000 and $1 million, the expected market time is 43 days, a hot seller’s market (fewer than 60 days). This range represents 17% of the active inventory and 21% of demand.
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For homes priced between $1 million to $1.25 million, the expected market time is 63 days, a slight seller’s market (between 60 and 90 days).
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For luxury homes priced between $1.25 million and $1.5 million, the expected market time dropped from 81 days to 79. For homes priced between $1.5 million and $2 million, the expected market time decreased from 122 to 115 days. For luxury homes priced between $2 million and $4 million, the expected market time increased from 163 days to 167 days. For luxury homes priced above $4 million, the expected market time dramatically increased from 349 to 515 days.
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The luxury end, all homes above $1.25 million, accounts for 39% of the inventory and only 14% of demand.
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The expected market time for all homes in Orange County dropped from 52 days to 51 in the past two weeks, a hot seller’s market (fewer than 60 days). From here, we can expect the market time to drop a little bit more by the end of the month.
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Distressed homes, both short sales and foreclosures combined, make up only 1% of all listings and 2% of demand. There are only 18 foreclosures and 22 short sales available to purchase today in all of Orange County, that’s 40 total distressed homes on the active market, rising by only one in the past two weeks. That’s right after reaching its lowest level since the very beginning of the Great Recession. Last year there were 85 total distressed sales, 113% more than today.
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There were 1,800 closed residential resales in January, down by 9% from January 2017’s 1,904 closed sales. January marked a 21% drop from December 2017. The sales to list price ratio was 97.6% for all of Orange County. Foreclosures accounted for just 1.1% of all closed sales and short sales accounted for 0.8%. That means that 98.1% of all sales were good ol’ fashioned sellers with equity.
