July 16, 2008
Orange: Real Estate Market Report
It’s time for a check-up on the Orange real estate market. Please undress, put on this gown, and wait on the table… the doctor will be right in.
The last “physical” we did on the Orange market was back on April 29th. At that time, Orange did not receive a clean bill of health, but rather results showed a drop in median home prices with homes taking longer to sell. Not quite the “six months to live” scenario, but not good.
How is Orange fairing now? Well, the diagnosis is still not good. The median single family home price continues to fall, to a new low of $569,882. This is down 6% from $606,957 in late April and down 12% from $645,403 in late February. For a real shocker, just look at what the median price was in early January, $672,843. The current median price is now down 15% from the beginning of the year. Where will it be at the end of the year? There’s always hope that things will pick up in summer, but, if they do, it’s likely they’ll go down again in late fall and winter.
The number of homes on the market are now 595 homes (up from 574 in late April, 559 in late February, and 582 in early January). The number of homes on the market is really subjective without any kind of measure for demand. Luckily, Altos Research also measures demand in its market action index. Currently, the market action index is at 15.41. Anything below 30 shows a buyer’s market… needless to say, the Orange market is pretty desperate and buyer’s can have their way with sellers.
(Data and graphs courtesy Altos Research.)
Another test to run to see how the Orange market is fairing is to look at how long homes are sitting on the market. The average property in has been on the market for about 99 days. This number is about the same as it has been since the beginning of the year: 110 days in late April, 99 days in February, and 109 days in January. Compared to the crazy mania days (”pre-bubble burst”), it seems like three months is a long time to sell. However, after looking through the inventory, it actually surprises me. I would expect it to be longer, just look that the properties below that have been listed “forever.”
Properties Just Listed
4415 W Stay Ct, Orange 92868; 3 bed/2 bath house; 1,178 sq ft; $400,000
3431 E Vine Ave, Orange 92869; 3 bed/2 bath house; 1,866 sq ft; $400,000
3010 N Butterfield Rd, Orange 92865; 3 bed/2 bath house; 1,898 sq ft; $580,000
Properties Listed for “Seems like forever”
1245 East Palm Ave, Orange 92866; 3 bed/2 bath house; 1,954 sq ft; $699,900; 839 days on the market
830 East Hoover Ave, Orange 92867; 3 bed/1.75 bath house; 1,640 sq ft; $650,000; 760 days on the market
417 East Jacaranda Ave, Orange 92867; 3 bed/2 bath house; 1,358 sq ft; $499,900; 594 days on the market
