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HOME SALE Dollars Hit 3 Year High !

Monday, August 02, 2010
by Zen Ziejewski

As reported in the OC Register August 2nd, 2010.

Click on charts to enlarge

Orange County home sales generated nearly $1.6 billion in June, the highest monthly total since June 2007, new figures from the Southern California Multiple Listing Service show.

Homes sold through the MLS generally commanded higher prices. And more of them sold, pushing the combined revenue from sales up almost 18% from June 2009.

For the first half of the year combined, sales revenues totaled $7.7 billion, up 29% from the first six months of 2009.

The overall increase means that broker commissions were up, too. Assuming that real estate brokers all charged 6% commissions (though in reality commissions usually are slightly lower), O.C. brokers would have earned a combined $462 million in the first half of the year.

SoCal MLS figures show further:
  • The median price for a detached Orange County house sold through the MLS was slightly better than the median for all detached houses, which includes For-Sale-By-Owner deals. The SoCal MLS median was $526,100 in June, vs. $520,000 for all houses, according to DataQuick.
  • The median price for an O.C. condo was roughly the same for MLS deals and the DataQuick count that includes all deals: $300,000.
  • The average price for all homes sold through the MLS was $558,976, up 5.1% from the previous June.
  • A total of 2,802 homes sold through the MLS. According to DataQuick, the June count included 621 additional homes not sold through the MLS, for a monthly total of 3,423.
  • June’s total revenue fell steadily from 2005, when O.C.’s MLS sales generated $2.7 billion. The June total hit bottom in 2009 at $1.3 billion. This was the first June in with total revenue increased from the year before.
  • Six-month totals for the first half of the year fell nearly 41% from $13 billion in 2005 to $6 billion in 2009.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

 

Homeowners Rush To Sell O.C. Homes

Monday, July 26, 2010
by Zen Ziejewski

As posted in the OC Register July 26th, 2010

A wave of potential home sellers pushed the number of Orange County homes on the market to a 15-month high. 

Orange County housing inventory grew by the largest amount so far this year, adding an additional 418 homes in the past two weeks and now totals 11,235. The market has not breached the 11,000 mark since the beginning of April 2009. Last year at this time the inventory was at 8,895 homes, 2,340 fewer than today. The inventory has not stopped growing at all this year as more and more pent up homeowners have opted to place their homes on the market at unrealistic levels. The same media reports of median home price increases and year over year increases in the number of closed sales have fooled these pent up sellers into believing that the market has recovered and that it is a great time to take advantage of the market. It is true that agents have tons of buyers in the market that have written many unsuccessful offers thus far and homes that are priced well are receiving multiple offers. The market disconnect lies in the fact that inventory has been increasing on the backs of unrealistic homeowners who have placed their homes on the market at overpriced levels.

Here’s the recent data, as of last Thursday, for listings; deals pending; market time in months; last Thursday vs. 2 weeks ago, a year ago and 2 years ago (Note: k=thousand; m=million) …

SliceListingsDealsTime (month)2 week ago1 yr. ago2 yr. ago
$0-$250k 1,505 526 2.86 2.92 1.94 4.10
$250k-$500k 3,635 1,260 2.88 2.68 1.43 4.10
$500k-$750k 2,633 630 4.18 3.90 2.40 5.09
$750k-$1m 1,188 247 4.81 4.88 4.43 7.56
$1m-$1.5m 874 144 6.07 6.94 9.09 11.84
$1.5m-$2m 454 36 12.61 8.45 13.41 16.36
$2m-4m 704 33 21.33 19.83 28.11 16.56
$4m+ 361 11 32.82 34.90 40.60 88.50
All O.C. 11,235 2,870 3.91 3.78 2.69 5.38

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

 

 

Orange County Homes Sales and Prices Still Rising !

Friday, July 23, 2010
by Zen Ziejewski

As reported in in OC Register, July 23, 2010

Orange County home sales and selling prices remain ahead of a year-ago after the passing of a deadline for a federal homebuying tax break — then that deadline was extended.

For the 22 business days ending July 8 – DataQuick’s latest homebuying report — Orange County saw …

For the 22 business days ending July 8
SlicePriceYr. agoSalesYr. ago
Houses $515,000 +4.8% 2,035 +1.9%
Condos $300,000 -2.0% 929 +7.4%
New $524,500 +23.6% 309 +122.3%
All O.C. $447,500 +6.5% 3,273 +9.0%
  • $447,500 median selling price that is +6.5% vs. a year ago yet -31% below June 2007’s peak of $645,000.
  • The most recent median is 21% above the cyclical low hit in January 2009 at $370,000 — so the median has recouped 28% of the $275,000 price drop from the peak.
  • The median selling price of a single-family homes is 30% less than their peak pricing (June ‘07) while condos sell 36% below their peak in March 2006. Builder prices for new homes are 39% below their February ‘05 top.
  • Single-family homes were 72% more expensive than condos in this period vs. 61% a year ago. From 1990-2009, the average house/condo gap was 58%.
  • In this most recent period, O.C. shoppers bought 3,273 residences — that is +9% vs. year-ago buying activity. This current sales pace is 91% of the average 3,597 homes sold per month in the 20 years ended in 2009.
  • Builder’s new homes sales were 9% of all residences sold in the period vs. 5% a year ago. From 1990-2009, builders did 14% of the selling.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

 SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

 

Should Cigarette Smoking Be Banned In Apartment Buildings?

Tuesday, July 20, 2010
by Zen Ziejewski

As posted in the OC REGISTER, 7/20/10

Will apartment complexes be the next smoke-free slice of life? Well, the city of Sebastopol in northern California is now considering a ban on smoking in apartments. Plus, a recent essay in The New England Journal of Medicine advocates that smoking should be banned in all multi-family housing and called on the federal government to prohibit tobacco smoke in Public Housing Authorities.

While governments have banned smoking in public places, private homes have been considered off-limits for such regulation. The journal argues that policy should end. Indeed, all apartments should be smoke free, it maintained:

“A resident who smokes in a single unit within a multiunit residential building puts the residents of the other units at risk. Tobacco smoke can move along air ducts, through cracks in the walls and floors, through elevator shafts, and along plumbing and electrical lines to affect units on other floors. High levels of tobacco toxins can persist in the indoor environment long after the period of active smoking — a phenomenon known as third-hand smoke. Tobacco toxins are distributed as volatile compounds and airborne particulate matter that are deposited on indoor surfaces and reemitted in the air over a period of days to years.”

In Orange County, about 36 Orange County landlords have registered their properties as tobacco-free with the Granada Hills-based Smokefree Apartment House Registry. The registry says there are at least 324 known units that are off-limits to smokers.

What do you think ?  Should cigarette smoking be banned in apartments ?

Summer Concerts Coming Up in South Orange County

Monday, July 19, 2010
by Zen Ziejewski

South Orange County Concert Series for Dana Point, and Laguna Niguel:

Dana Point:

This highly successful summer concert series is held on Sunday afternoons at Heritage Park, 34400 Old Golden Lantern, Dana Point:

July 25 - The Oreo Divas - A Tribute to the Music of Motown - (Heritage Park, 4:30pm-6:00pm)

August 1 - Turn the Page - A Tribute to Bob Seger - (Heritage Park, 4:30pm-6:00pm)

August 8 - The Wilsons - Classic Rock - (Heritage Park, 3:00pm-4:00pm) and featuring Savor - Santana Music (Heritage Park, 4:30pm-6:00pm). 

August 15 - Springsteen - The Premier Tribute to the Boss - (Heritage Park, 4:30pm-6:00pm)

Laguna Niguel:

This concert series is held on Friday evenings at Crown Valley Community Park Amphitheater, 29751 Crown Valley Parkway, Laguna Niguel.

July 30 - Paperback Writer - Beatles Tribute - (CVCPA, 6:30pm-8:30pm)

August 13 - The Funk-O-Matics - Disco Funk - (CVCPA, 6:30pm-8:30pm)

August 27 - Tommy Tassi/Authentics - 50's/60's Rock N Roll - (CVCPA, 6:30pm-8:30pm)

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

 

South Coast Home Sales up 4% Over Year

Friday, July 16, 2010
by Zen Ziejewski

As reported by KELLI HART, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

For calendar month June – DataQuick’s freshest stats — South Coast homebuying patterns showed:

  • 206 homes were bought in the region in the period – +4% vs. a year ago.
  • Sales counts in all Orange County beach towns ran +5% vs. a year ago.
  • Countywide, it was +16% vs. a year earlier.
  • The sales-weighted average of median price changes in South Coast ZIPs was -29% vs. a year ago.
  • Price change in all Orange County beach towns ran +3% vs. a year ago.
  • Countywide, it was +6% vs. a year earlier.

Here’s a look at how South Coast ZIPs compare to all Orange County beach town trends and countywide totals for homebuying and median selling prices:

TownZIPMedian priceYear’s chg.SalesYear’s chg.
Dana Point 92624 $594,500 +8.1% 10 +100.0%
Dana Point 92629 $540,000 -26.8% 50 -9.1%
San Clemente 92672 $495,000 -10.0% 48 +14.3%
San Clemente 92673 $685,000 -4.2% 55 -1.8%
San Juan Capo 92675 $364,500 +23.6% 43 +7.5%
All beach towns   $652,250 +2.8% 551 +5.0%
Total O.C.   $445,000 +6.5% 3,423 +15.7%

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

 

O.C. Home Sales hit 4-year HIGH

Tuesday, July 13, 2010
by Zen Ziejewski

As reported by the OC REGISTER,July 13th, 2010.

A temporary deadline for a federal homebuying tax break helped boost the Orange County home market last month.

In June, DataQuick says 3,423 Orange County residences closed escrow, up 15 percent from a year ago. And, it’s the busiest June for deal closings since 2006.

The median selling price for all Orange County residences — resales homes and condos plus new homes of all types — sold in June was $445,000. While that was up 6.5% in a year it is also down from $450,000 in May and the fourth month-to-month drop in the past eight months. All told, the median price is up 2.3% in the first half of the year.

However, the recovery looks meager when a historic perspective is applied:

  • June buying is 21.7% below the average sales activity of June from 1988 through 2009. (See chart above comparing sales activity of the most recent 12 months compared to their respective 1988-2009 monthly averages.)
  • In the 12 months ended in June, Orange County home sales totaled 32,813 – that is 26% below the average sale activity of 44,344 for a year from 1988 through 2009.
  • For the second quarter, there were 9,349 Orange County homes were sold — that was 44% above the first quarter. Historically, Orange County sees a 33% sales bump from the first quarter to the second quarter, the heart of the so-called spring selling season.
  • However, sales in 2010’s second quarter sales were 24% percent below the 1988-2009 average.

Uncle Sam likely had a hand in this sales bump. House shoppers who entered escrow by April 30 were told they had to close the deal by June 30 to possibly collect up to an $8,000 federal tax credit. Just after the June 30 deadline — which spurred a deal-closing flurry — that deadline was extended by Congress to Sept. 30. (DETAILS HERE!)

“This is good news, even if part of it is due to stimulus programs such as tax credits and very low interest rates,” says Kerry Vandell, director of real estate studies at the Merage School of Business at UCI. “Consider how we all would feel if, after all the stimulus activity, sales and prices continued to drop. The fact that a broad array of economic indicators — including Wall Street hiring — is pointing toward recovery is a very good sign. However, in the end, recovery will not be complete until job growth in the private sector turns solidly and significantly positive. We are not there yet. However, I anticipate solid job recovery by year end.”

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

 

Home sales, prices up in 44% of O.C.

Monday, July 12, 2010
by Zen Ziejewski

As posted in the OC REGISTER

Home sales and selling prices are rising in many parts of the county. For the 22 business days ending June 24 – DataQuick’s freshest stats — Orange County homebuying patterns showed:

  • 50 of O.C.’s 83 ZIP codes had gains in their respective median selling price. Overall, prices were +4.0% vs. a year ago.
  • Taking sales volume in consideration, home pricing is up in ZIPs representing 66% of the Orange County market.
  • 8 of 83 O.C. ZIPs had median sales prices above $1 million in the period vs. 11 million-dollar ZIPs when the county median price peaked in June 2007.
  • Since that pricing pinnacle, there’s been a -31% drop in the countywide median price!
  • 48 of 83 O.C. ZIPs had year-over-year sales gains in the period.
  • Overall, countywide sales were +11.6% vs. a year ago.
  • 4 of 83 O.C. ZIPs has sales gains of 100% or more in the period.

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search  

Orange County Home Builders Who Ranked in the Top 100 Nationally...

Thursday, July 08, 2010
by Zen Ziejewski

As reported in the OC Register 7/8/10

Seven homebuilding companies based in Orange County or having a strong presence here ranked in Builder Magazine’s newest list of the nation’s Top 100 Builders.

Five of them were among the nation’s top 40 builders.

Builder Magazine’s widely respected industry rankings  are based on 2009 home sales. Despite declines, five of the builders moved up in the latest year’s rankings since other firms had even bigger sales declines.

Locally active firms among the top 100 are:

  • Lennar Corp., which has its Western regional headquarters in Aliso Viejo, ranked third with 11,478 homes sold. Even though sales dropped 27%, the company’s ranking moved up from fourth. Lennar’s headquarters are in Miami.
  • Standard Pacific Homes, based in Irvine, ranked 12th with 3,581 homes sold. Its ranking moved up from 13th the year before.
  • Shea Homes, based in the San Gabriel Valley town of Walnut, ranked 20th with 2,091 homes sold. That’s down from 16th the year before. The firm has a significant O.C. presence.
  • William Lyon Homes, based in Newport Beach, ranked 29th with 915 homes sold. That’s up from 32nd the year before.
  • Brookfield Homes, which has its Southern California office in Costa Mesa, ranked 37th with 703 homes sold. That’s up from 41st the year before. The company’s headquarters is in San Francisco.
  • FieldStone Homes, based in Irvine, ranked 40th, with 694 homes sold. It’s rank was unchanged from the year before.
  • Sares-Regis Group, an Irvine-based builder of apartments and condos, ranked 98th, with 253 homes sold. It’s ranking increased from 121st after its sales numbers improved 30%.

All seven builders reported revenue declines in 2009 ranging from a 16% decline reported by Brookfield to FieldStone’s 72% drop. Sales fell for all but Sares-Regis Group.

Nationwide, newly build single-family homes fell 23% last year and represented fewer than 8% of the homes sold, Builder Magazine reported. Fifty-eight of the top 100 reported sales declines and 66 reported a decrease in company revenues. The magazine reported:

“The builders comprising the 2009 Builder 100 were pretty much in the same boat as the rest of the industry, struggling to find customers and to complete sales. Their closings fell by nearly 29 percent from the previous year.”

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

 

 

"Buying Opportunity For Investors"...

Wednesday, July 07, 2010
by Zen Ziejewski

"This market is a buying opportunity for investors who invest wisely and are patient, but will see their investments appreciate “in the long run,” states former CEO and vice chairman of the IRVINE COMPANY, Mike McKee.

The former CEO and vice chairman of the Irvine Co. says that the outlook for housing and commercial real estate will be rocky for the next year or two because of the volume of underwater loans.

Mike McKee, who retired from the Irvine Co. in August 2008, is now the CEO of Seattle-based Kennedy Associates Real Estate Counsel, LP, the largest privately-held real estate investment advisor in the United States.

“Residential real estate still has challenges,” said McKee, 64, who still lives in Laguna Beach and commutes to Seattle. “I don’t think we’ve worked through foreclosures yet.”

He added that problems with commercial real estate, such as underwater loans and defaults on commercial mortgage-backed securities, are still hampering the economic recovery.

“The operating performance of the assets aren’t sufficient to justify the debt on many of these (properties), and that still has to clear,” McKee said.

Artificial intervention — the so-called ‘extend and pretend’ stance — has postponed many decisions that still need to be made on underwater commercial properties, he added.

“There’s some cleaning up, clearing out still to do. I don’t think it’s been very transparent that there’s still this overhang,” he said. “There’s still this soft economy that still will be around for awhile.”

“It’s going to be rocky for the next 24 months.”

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Search

 

 

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