Has Orange County Finally Hit the Bottom of the Real Estate Market?

In some areas, foreclosures are increasing, housing inventories are higher than normal, and even well-qualified borrowers cannot receive mortgage loans. Many homeowners and home buyers also are becoming increasingly concerned about when the housing market will reach bottom. Although some areas, such as the Inland Empire and the Central Valley appear to already have experienced the bulk of their price declines, other markets such as San Francisco and Southern California may still see home values decrease a little further, according to some analysts. A few economists are comparing the current real estate cycle to the 1990’s but the origin this time is much different. Then, a higher rate of unemployment and other economic factors triggered the downturn. The current market declined at a quicker pace, but has shown marked improvement in 2008. In July home sales remained above the 400,000 level nationally for the third consecutive month. Affordability has increased dramatically. So, are we at the bottom in Orange County? For all intents and purposes, probably.