Highlights of DataQuick’s Orange County homebuying report. For the 22 business days ending March 14 – the latest numbers — Orange County’s real estate market saw …
· Median selling price for all residences of $418,300 – that is off 0.9% vs. a year ago.
· Total Orange County sales of 1,929 residences closed in the latest period — that is off down 13.3% vs. a year ago.
· Note: 8 of 83 Orange County ZIPs had both rising sales and prices in the period. Is your ZIP one of those neighborhoods? To see, CLICK HERE!
Here’s the breakdown of recent activity by key category; included is how the latest results compare to the average monthly sales pace from 1988 through 2010:
| Slice | Price | Price vs. year ago | Sales | Sales vs. year ago | Sales vs. ’88-’10 avg. |
| Houses | $485,000 | -4.9% | 1,398 | -13.4% | -38.1% |
| Condos | $285,000 | -1.7% | 692 | -22.2% | -19.6% |
| New | $500,000 | -7.2% | 165 | +70.1% | -68.6% |
| All O.C. | $418,300 | -0.9% | 1,929 | -13.3% | -47.1% |
And more analysis ….
· $418,300 median selling price is up 2% since the year started.
· This median is 35% below June 2007′s peak of $645,000.
· Current price is 7.0% below 2010′s peak (May and July) of $450,000.
· The most recent median is 13% above the cyclical low hit in January 2009 at $370,000 — so the median has recouped 18% of the $275,000 price drop from the peak.
· Compared to cyclical low, single-family house median is 16% higher ($418,250 in January 2009); condo median is 13% higher ($252,000 in March 2009.) Builder prices for new homes are 18% above June 2009′s $424,000 bottom.
· The median selling price of a single-family home is 34% less than their peak pricing (June ’07). Condos sell 39% below their peak in March 2006. Builder prices for new homes are 42% below their February ’05 top.
· Single-family homes were 70% more expensive than condos in this period vs. 76% a year ago. From 1988-2010, the average house/condo gap was 57%.
· Builder’s new homes sales were 9% of all residences sold in the period vs. 4% a year ago. From 1988-2010, builders did 14% of the Orange County homeselling.
