For the first 4 weeks of January 2008 Home sales are up 18% in Orange County compared to the previous 4 weeks in December.  Unfortunately they are down 37% compared to the first 4 weeks of January in 2007. 

As a professional working this market last January, it was extremely busy in January of 2007.  It was one our busiest months here in Orange County.  Buyers were writing a lot of offers and the year started out with a bang.  Then the Sub Prime meltdown began in February and by the end of March our market really turned down from here in Orange County.  Irvine, CA was the capital of Sub Prime lending and the wave of companies began to close and lay off workers.    

Based upon the current sales and inventory of 15,245 it would take 12.51 months for buyers to gobble up all homes for sale at the current pace vs. 15 months four weeks earlier.  This is still way above the 6.16 months a year ago. The latest inventory count (15,245) is 28% higher than a year ago as of today.

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