Demand for O.C. Homes back at 2005 levels

The latest O.C. home inventory report says demand, as measured by the number of new pending O.C. sales over the prior month, is up 33% in a year to 3,553 — high for the year. The last time demand exceeded 3,500? August 2005.

Demand has literally taken off over the past four weeks. It is almost as if somebody turned the demand switch to its “on” position. Can this be the stimulus package at work? Are the lower interest rates working? Could the recent uptick be attributed to pent up demand? Is the public at large feeling a little bit at ease given the recent improvement on Wall Street? It is most likely a little bit of everything at work.

It would take 2.97 months for buyers to gobble up all homes for sale at the current pace vs. 3.40 months two weeks vs. 6.55 months a year ago vs. 7.75 two years ago. Homes listed for under a million bucks have a market time of 2.34 months vs. 14.51 months for homes listed for more than $1 million.

Just 19 days worth of O.C. foreclosures for sale!

Chart 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 …

Sales in O.C. Leap 45%

Inventory of available homes has been steadily declining, but still consists largely of short sales and foreclosures. First Quarter saw sales rise by 45% compared to the same period last year. The average sale price, however dropped 30% to $454,572 for a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 1641 square foot home. Total sales in Orange County reached 5,458 homes. It is still a buyer's market, but for all intents and purposes the majority of short sale listings are really not available for sale. Overall, the trends suggest that we are beginning to climb out of the housing abyss. Low mortgage rates and low prices are a boon to buyers and investors.