From DQ News….

See DataQuick’s results on Orange County Real Estate Home Sales

by going to seeing Orange County Realty results for February in DataQuick’s  February results page.

 

Thousands of ocean view homes dot the hills in South Orange County.

(Photo taken from the San Clemente Pier.)

How the Housing Market Did

During the Year, 2007; And

What Lies Ahead in 2008

 In Orange County, for the first time in 11 years, the median home price dropped in 2007. The median home price was $618,000, which was down 1.9 percent from the median home price of 2006.
 
What will the market be in 2008? Well, in 2005, 54,000 homes sold in Orange County. But in 2007, the total was cut in half, at 27,000 homes. In the past 20 years, that is the lowest total.

Long time experts in Orange County estimate that prices in the OC were about 10 percent off the June 2006 peak, which means they matched levels seen in 2005.

In 2008, the prices may well drop to 2004 levels, but only on a median level. Great exceptions are found in beach and near-beach communities.

Sure, there have been some big drops for homes with dreadful floor plans, poor locations, such as by a noisy freeway or park, or in some declining neighborhoods in north Orange County zip codes (which had a 7-8 percent drop in median prices). However, Inland zip codes lost only 5.4 percent and homes in mid-county zip codes dropped only 4.4 percent.

The worst losers? Three areas, North, Inland and Mid-County suffered sales drops of approximately 33 percent.

But happy days for some: Coastal areas in Orange County were hardly impacted by the housing bubble bursting.

In the beach cities, starting in the south through San Clemente, Dana Point, Capistrano Beach, Laguna Niguel, Monarch Beach, Laguna Beach, Corona Del Mar, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Sunset Beach, and all the way north to Seal Beach, home prices dropped just 2.9 percent, with sales levels dropping only 18 percent.

In 73 of the County’s 83 zip codes, sales fell in 2007. In Santa Ana’s Zip Code 92707, sales were off a whopping 62 percent.

The overall gainer in sales volume in 2007? Irvine’s 92612 where sales increased 30 percent.
 
Regarding median home prices, some went UP in 2007. Dana Point saw the median home price RISE by 15.6 percent to over one million dollars in the city’s 92624 zip code. Parts of San Juan Capistrano, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, also enjoyed home price increases.

In Orange County, the cities of Laguna Hills, Ladera Ranch, the eastern side of Santa Ana, eastern Mission Viejo and north Orange had no changes in price in 2007 compared to 2006.

Garden Grove’s 92840’s zip code showed the leading price drop of 15.3 percent, down to $500,000. Oddly, some normally top neighborhoods in Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, and Irvine had double-digit price decreases, too.

Is the credit crunch terrible in Orange County? Well, it could be a lot worse…Real Data Strategies, a Brea consulting firm, says that 54.6% of homeowners in default emerge from the foreclosure process by bringing their payments current, refinancing, or selling the home and paying off what they owe.
 
The Pacific West Association of Realtors says that Orange County sales REVENUES for real estate agents dropped by almost 40 percent during the last five months of 2007. And that represents a $3.1 billion drop from the same period in 2006.

This is not so good for real estate agents because only 55 percent of Orange County’s active real estate agents took part in one or more sales last year. And half of those had just one or two sales apiece. The other 45 percent had no income in 2007!!

You can expect many agents to drop out of real estate during 2008.

A leading local newspaper reported that historically, housing downturns average 27 months so we may be near the end. And we are told by the housing analysts that we are in the 25th month of the current housing downturn. And so far in 2008, while there has been a significant decline in sales volume, home prices in many areas have continued to show small amounts of appreciation.

The newspaper further believed that with the Fed cutting interest rates, Congress passing bills to aid housing, and more money available for home lending, the financial markets will begin calming down. This down cycle will come to an end, just as they have done since 1970, and an excellent buying opportunity may lie ahead.Buyers will still need to be pre-qualified before a Realtor or seller takes them seriously, but it is definitely becoming a buyers market vs. the sellers market of the past few years.

Fortunately, because I mostly represent buyers, I can represent you, and protect you against the seller and his agent, and guide you in preparing the papers for your offer.

Also, if you have a lot of equity, you might consider investing it in some very excellent wealth-building programs that I can show you, often making you millions in retirement money after an initial investment of several hundred thousand dollars that would otherwise just be sitting there as equity in your home, earning you nothing.

I also have a terrific mortgage reduction program wherein you use a new software program that tells you exactly when to make payments.

Orange County is still the place to live for many people seeking “the good life” in a vibrant, exciting neighborhood.

A baby-boomer’s heaven, the OC is the place to buy a home, a second home, or even investment property.

Be sure to visit my huge Orange County Real Estate web site.  Learn the important difference between a real estate agent, Realtor and a Broker.

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