OC HOUSING REPORT 5.1.17 – LOOKING UP

 

The active listing inventory increased by 247 homes, or 5%, in the past couple of weeks, the second largest increase this year. It now totals 5,263. Last year, there were 5,862 homes on the market, 599 more than today.

– There are 40% fewer homes on the market below $500,000 compared to last year at this time and demand is down by 25%. 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 only 1% in the past couple of weeks, adding 24 pending sales now totaling 2,981, knocking on the door of 3,000 pending sales, typically a sign that the hottest time of year has arrived. Today’s demand is 6% lower than last year when it totaled 3,183. The average pending price is $895,476.
– 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 33 days. This range represents 37% of the active inventory and 59% of demand.
– For homes priced between $750,000 and $1 million, the expected market time is 49 days, a seller’s market (less than 60 days). This range represents 19% of the active inventory and 21% of demand.
– For luxury homes priced between $1 million to $1.5 million, the expected market time is at 84 days, increasing by three in the past couple of weeks. For homes priced between $1.5 million to $2 million, the expected market time increased from 110 to 116 days. For luxury homes priced above $2 million, the expected market time decreased from 202 to 189 days.
– The luxury end, all homes above $1 million, accounts for 44% of the inventory and only 20% of demand.
– The expected market time for all homes in Orange County increased from 51 days to 53 in the past couple of weeks, a solid seller’s market (less than 60 days). From here, we can expect the market time to slowly rise throughout the Spring and Summer, moving from a deep seller’s market to a slight seller’s market.
– Distressed homes, both short sales and foreclosures combined, make up only 1.7% of all listings and 2% of demand. There are only 36 foreclosures and 53 short sales available to purchase today in all of Orange County, that’s 89 total distressed homes on the active market, 11 more than two weeks ago. Last year there were 157 total distressed sales, 76% more.
– There were 2,792 closed sales in March, a 49% increase over February 2017 and a 9% increase over March 2016. The sales to list price ratio was 97.9% for all of Orange County. Foreclosures accounted for just 1.5% of all closed sales and short sales accounted for 1.5% as well. That means that 97% of all sales were good ol’ fashioned equity sellers.