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The Laguna Niguel housing market

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:32:33 +0000

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The Laguna Niguel housing market, part of the larger Southern Orange County real estate market, showed strong signs of improvement compared to a year earlier. According to a June 15, 2010 article from the Orange County Register, “For calendar month May – DataQuick’s latest stats – the 19 ZIPs located in south inland communities showed…947 homes sold, that is +46.1% vs. a year ago. The median selling price of these ZIPs was $520,000 – that is +4.9% vs. a year ago.” The piece continued to state that “The south inland ZIPs comprised 29.9% of the recent home sales in Orange County vs. 24.9% a year ago…36 ZIP codes in beach towns and inland South County communities had 1,515 home sales. That’s up 43.7% vs. a year ago.”

The recovery of the overall Orange County economy, which partially determines the number of Laguna Niguel homes for sale, is not as rapid as some analysts had expected. According to a June 3, 2010 article from the OC Metro, “Attendees got what they came for with news that an uptick in new jobs, consumer confidence and median home prices all point to a ‘weak but sustained recovery through 2011.’ The lagging construction industry, however, is expected to stall a more robust rebound.” The piece, composed by Kimberly A. Porrazzo, went on to say that “Typically, GDP growth is in the 6 percent range following a recession. Chapman’s forecast last December called for a mild recovery – around 3 percent…The report underscored the fact that the recession’s impact on Orange County was greater than previously though. Revised statistics from the Employment Development Department show that the county lost 110,200 payroll jobs during 2009, instead of the previously reported 64,800.”

The jobless rate will likely not reach pre-recession levels until next year, which might stall the recovery of the Laguna Niguel housing market. According to a June 3, 2010 article from the Orange County Business Journal, “Orange County isn’t expected to start adding jobs until 2011, according to a midyear economic forecast update released by Chapman University Thursday. Economists at the university in Orange now expect a 1.2% drop in employment for nearly 18,000 jobs lost in 2010, a sharp pullback from the 1,000 job gain it predicted in December.”

Buena Park real estate market

admin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:32:26 +0000

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The Buena Park real estate market, part of the northern Orange County housing market, showed strong signs of improvement in the most recent tracking period. According to a June 15, 2010 article in the OC Metro, “Orange County’s median home price and sales numbers got a welcome boost in May, partly due to government tax credits, low mortgage rates and more activity in higher-priced areas, according to a new report from MDA DataQuick.” The piece, composed by Kristen Schott, went on to state that “The median home price rose to $450,000 in the county, up about 10 percent from the same time last year. It’s the ninth consecutive year-over-year gain, according to the real estate information service. The price also increased from April when it hit $430,000…The regional uptick in the median could be attributed to a shift to higher-priced home sales in coastal areas such as Orange County, according to MDA DataQuick.”

Buena Park homes for sale, and the northern Orange County properties in general, sold more quickly and in greater volume in the most recent tracking period. According to a June 12, 2010 article from the Orange County Register, “For the 22 business days ending May 25 – DataQuick’s latest stats – the 22 ZIPs located in north inland communities showed…725 homes sold, that is +7.9% vs. a year ago. The median selling price of these ZIPs was $452,500 – that is +2.1% vs. a year ago.” The article went on to note that “The north inland ZIPs comprised 22.8% of the recent home sales in Orange county vs. a 24.3% a year ago…36 ZIP codes in beach towns and inland South County communities had 1,657 home sales. That’s down 0.4% vs. a year ago. Thus, the share of Orange County homes sold in mid-county and inland North County neighborhoods was 52% vs. 60% a year ago.”

The number of distressed homes for sale in the Buena Park housing market as well as the rest of the Orange County real estate market was slightly elevated. According to a June 15, 2010 article in the OC Metro, “The distressed inventory continued its slow climb this year, adding an additional 89 homes in the prior two weeks and now totaling 3,080, a 3% increase.”

Saratoga Real Estate

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 20:29:52 +0000

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Saratoga, California, is a city in Santa Clara County in the northern part of the state in the San Francisco Bay area. It is just west of San Jose in the Silicon Valley area and is home to a population of just over 30,000. Saratoga is a wealthy suburb home to many successful residents who work in the high-tech companies of Silicon Valley. The city’s 2007 estimated median annual household income was over $137,000, and Saratoga real estate is accordingly quite expensive, currently averaging more than $1 million.

So far in 2010, the Saratoga market for residential real estate has shown positive signs and seems to be improving overall. According to the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, the first quarter of 2010, which consists of the year’s first three months, saw 135 new listings of Saratoga homes for sale on top of current inventory of 122 homes, both of which were down from numbers from the first quarter of 2009, when both figures were over 170. Sales showed improvement as well, with 38 single-family homes sold in the first quarter versus only 21 homes sold last year. The average number of days homes spent on the market before closing improved slightly as well, standing at 95 days in the first three months of this year versus 103 at the same time last year. Even home prices showed improvement in Saratoga, a positive indicator for the real estate market’s health. Average prices were at $1.8 million, up from $1.4 million last year while the median price improved to $1.6 million from $1.2 million.

The condo market in Saratoga showed similar mostly positive trends to kick off 2010. There were 19 new condos listed in addition to an inventory of 15 condos already up for sale, down slightly from last year’s inventory of 22. Sales improved significantly, with eight sales this year in the first quarter versus just a single sale in the first quarter of 2009, and the number of days condos spent on the market before selling fell drastically as well, at just 27 days from 239 last year. The average price of a condo sold in Saratoga in the first quarter of this year was $675,375 while the median price was $633,500. Not many conclusions can be drawn against last year’s figure of $618,000, however, since it was based on the sale of only a single condo.

Mission Beach Real Estate

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:24:43 +0000

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A community within the city of San Diego, Mission Beach, California, lies on the Pacific Ocean‘s shores and covers two miles of oceanfront property. The community has a very laid-back atmosphere and it is a popular weekend destination for those in the surrounding area, with a boardwalk running along the beach and the community stretching to the popular Mission Bay Park to the east. Because of its prime location along the ocean’s shores, Mission Beach real estate is some of the more expensive real estate in the San Diego area and it homes here are highly coveted.

During the year 2009, there were 137 resell single-family homes sold in Mission Beach and 231 resell condos. Combined, there were 396 residential properties sold for the year. The median price of single-family homes was $750,000, down 3% from 2008, and the median price for condos was $402,500, down around 10% from 2008. Overall, the median price for all types of residential homes in Mission Beach in 2009 was $514,000, down 11% from a year earlier.

More recently, Mission Beach homes for sale have actually shown the slightest improvement in pricing. During the month of March, according to the San Diego Union Tribune monthly zip code sales chart, there were 12 single-family homes sold for a median price of $730,000, up an ever so slight 0.7% year-over-year. The condo market, however, showed more signs of a continued struggle. There were 16 condos sold during the month for a median price of $267,500, a decline of nearly 32% annually. Additionally, there were four newly constructed homes sold for a median price of $352,500. In total, there were 32 residential properties sold in Mission Beach in March for a median price of $427,500, down 17% from March 2009.

Yorba Linda Real Estate

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:22:56 +0000

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An affluent suburban community in Orange County in Southern California, Yorba Linda is home to a population of about 70,000 and is about 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The city is famed for once being home to former U.S. President Richard Nixon, and is home to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. It has a large population of horse lovers, with more than 30 horse trails in the community. Yorba Linda real estate leans toward the higher end in the county, as residents here, on the whole, are quite wealthy, with a median household income of almost $110,000 in 2007. The affluent community lends itself to higher home prices, and Yorba Linda suffered its share from the downturn in the real estate sector that occurred — and is still occurring — across much of the U.S., beginning in 2008.

Yorba Linda finished the year of 2009 with mixed notes. According to the Orange County Register‘s annual zip code sales chart, the median price for homes sold in the city was down nearly 10% in one zip code, coming in at $587,750, and down 6.5% in the other zip code to $579,500. The good news was that sales activity in the city was up — by more than 16% overall for the year in the first zip code, with a total of 587 homes sold, and by 20.5% in the latter zip code, with 253 homes sold.

Despite slumping prices in 2009, the new year shows some signs of promise for Yorba Linda homes for sale. According to the Orange County Register’s monthly sales chart, in March, the city’s first zip code saw home prices rise year-over-year by 3.5% to $634,500. However, the second and less populated zip code, saw its prices still continuing to struggle, down in March by nearly 17% to $375,000. March saw sales down annually in both zip codes, with 45 and 19 homes sold, respectively, declines by 25% and 30%.

Even more recently, these trends have continued. The city’s first zip code saw its median price at $650,000 in a three week period ended April 14, according to the Orange County Register’s Real Estate blog. That made for an 18% increase, besting the total Orange County average increase for the period, which was up 15%. The second zip code saw a median of $379,500, down 40% annually. Sales volume was up in both zip codes, with 55 and 24 sales, respectively, up 25% and 4%.

Poway Real Estate Update

admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 20:19:18 +0000

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The Poway real estate market is heavily dependent on the larger trends of the San Diego county real estate market. The trend for this general area has been largely positive in recent months, according to an April 16, 2010 article in the Los Angeles Times. This article found that “A decline in the number of foreclosures and the comeback of higher-priced coastal areas drive the increase…The median price paid for a California home in March jumped 14.3% compared with the same month last year, reflecting a reduction in the number of foreclosure properties on the market and the comeback of higher-priced coastal areas.” The piece continued to note, written by Alejandro Lazo, continued to find that “Statewide, the median price paid for a home in March was $255,000, up from $223,000 in March 2009. It was the fifth consecutive year-over-year increase after 27 months of declines.”

An especially encouraging sign for Poway homes for sale was a decreasing number of foreclosures, according to an April 23, 2010 article in the Valley News. According to this piece, “The number of Riverside County homes slipping toward foreclosures dropped by 49.9 percent in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period in 2009, a real estate information service reported Tuesday.” This article continued to note that “Lenders sent default notices to 8,474 homeowners in Riverside County in the first quarter, down from the previous year’s first-quarter total of 16,906, according to La Jolla-based MDA DataQuick. Meanwhile, the number of San Diego County homes slipping toward foreclosure dropped by 39 percent in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period in 2009.”

However, there may be trouble on the horizon for Poway real estate, as a major lending crisis may be on the horizon for the region. According to an April 13, 2010 article in the North County Times, “Bank of America, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, ramped up its foreclosure activity in March, sending hundreds of letters warning delinquent borrowers in the region that it could sell their homes at auction in as little as three weeks, according to North County Times analysis of data from ForeclosureRadar. The bank said the increased activity was a natural consequence of borrowers running out of options.”

East Bluff Newport Beach, California

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:16:14 +0000

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A community within Newport Beach, California, the area called East Bluff is an area with 460 single-family homes located atop a location where views can be seen of the Back Bay and Newport Beach’s city lights. The community is close-knit and family-oriented. The area is home to high-priced residential real estate and thus has only naturally suffered since the downturn in the U.S. housing market set in around late 2008. Prices have spiked and crashed throughout the past year, making the East Bluff real estate market a bit unstable at present time.

The Newport Beach Zip code in which East Bluff is located has seen its median price rise and fall like tracing the path of a roller-coaster over the past year. In April, it showed a more stable mark from the previous month, at around $1.68 million, basically constant month-over-month. Last year at this time, the median price was just around $1.7 million, showing that through all the ups and downs of 2009, perhaps the market now has gotten through the shocks and may continue on a more stable path.

The number of days East Bluff homes for sale and other homes for sale in the Newport Beach Zip code have spent on the market before selling has shown some improvement in the first quarter of 2010. The figure hit an annual peak at around 270 days in early January, but has since fallen to around 225 in mid-March, the lowest level seen since early December 2009. These figures are all still well above the 175-day range that existed in mid-April of 2009.

The number of new homes listed fell dramatically in the beginning months of 2010, hitting a 12-month bottom of around 150 in mid-January. That figure has since picked up again though, rising to around 225 in the beginning of April, about the same level as it was at during the same period last year. Meanwhile, price per square foot has traced a mostly downward trajectory over the past 12 months, with the figure at around $545 in April, down form $585 at the same period one year ago.

Ranch Mirage Real Estate Market

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:44:35 +0000

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The Ranch Mirage real estate market in the Palm Springs area of inland California has experienced many ups and downs in recent months as it struggles to combat the ill effects of the financial crisis plaguing broad swaths of America. In the past quarter or so, things have begun to look more positive for the market though, with increasing signs of optimism.

In February, the median price for a single-family home in Rancho Mirage was $544,750, a more than 32% increase from a year ago and a 9% increase from January’s figures. The average price was $758,194, an increase of 13.6% from 2009 and a 28.9% rise from January. Sales activity is up in general, though fluctuating month to month. In February, there were 24 homes sold, an increase of one-third from a year ago but a decline of nearly 30% from the previous month’s figures.

The condo market showed similar trends, with higher prices but fewer sales. In February, according to The Desert Real Estate Report, the median price for condos was $349,500, an increase of nearly 30% from the same time last year and a 6.7% rise from January. The average price stood at just over $344,000, a more than 9% increase from a year ago and another 12.3% higher than January’s figure. There were only 12 condos sold in February, however, a decrease by a third in activity from February 2009 and from a month prior.

Total sales activity in the city in February accounted for 43 sales, including Ranch Mirage homes for sale and condos for sale, according to DQ News. When taken together, the median price of properties for sale was $459,000, up by more than 33% from a year earlier, when that figure was just $345,000.

Tustin Real Estate Market

admin — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 18:42:11 +0000

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Orange County is notorious across the country as being home to some of the most luxurious homes in America – and some of the country’s highest real estate prices to match. Tustin, California, is a community within Orange County that has seen major fluctuations in its real estate market over the past couple of years, like most all communities in Orange County.

According to the Orange County Register, February was a mixed month for the Tustin real estate market, as it saw an improvement in median prices but a decline in sales volume. February accounted for just 23 sales in Tustin, a decline of 41% from a year ago. However, sales prices for those 23 homes showed a positive trend, with the median price at $390,000, a more than 73% increase from one year ago.

Additionally, realtors at eVantage Real Estate in Orange County reported in March that there were currently 59 detached single-family Tustin homes for sale, with those homes having a median sales price of $599,000 for an average price per square foot of $348. Pricing of the 59 homes ranges from as little as $399,900 for a two-bedroom home to a high of nearly $4.3 million for a five-bedroom.

The condo market in March saw 30 active listings in Tustin. Condos for sale had a median listing price of $345,000 for an average price per square foot of $302. The range of condos stretches from as little as $145,000 for a one-bedroom to $729,000 for a three-bedroom condo. The realtors also report that 48 homes have sold in the past 90 days in Tustin. These homes were sold for a median price of $583,000. Meanwhile, thirty condominiums have sold in the past 90 days in Tustin for a median price of $350,000.

Atherton Real Estate Market

admin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:40:58 +0000

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A town in San Mateo County in the northern San Francisco Bay are of California, Atherton, California, is home to a population of just over 7,000 mostly affluent residents. The city’s high-priced real estate market has struggled in the past couple of years, as the economic crisis in the U.S. has brought about job losses and decreased residents values, both of their homes and of other financial assets.

Last year, end-of-year figures showed there were 69 sales in Atherton, an improvement on 2008′s total of 63 sales. In 2009, Atherton homes for sale spent an average of 109 days on the market before selling, compared with just 49 days in 2008, showing that inventory piled up and sales were not brisk enough to keep homes off the market for long.

Prices in Atherton showed signs of a struggle too. In 2009, the average sales price was just over $3.3 million, down from over $4 million in 2008. The median price was $2.79 million in 2009, also down from the previous year’s price, which was $3.38 million. Total sales volume for the year fell as well, down by more than $15 million.

In February, prices showed improvement over 2009, however, giving signs for potential optimism for the upcoming year. The median price in February was $4.97 million, although that figure is based on just four closed sales for the month, but the figures were up as compared with January figures. In February, there were 32 homes on the market, and homes were spending an average of 229 days on the market before selling. Of homes sold in February, Atherton real estate sold received nearly 92% of listing prices.