OC Homes Selling At Fastest Pace In 4 Years

By Kurt Real Estate Nov 23, 2019

With limited options to buy and prices continuing to rise, home buying in Orange County is no walk in the park. Despite these barriers to entry, homes are still being snatched up at a fairly rapid pace…the fastest in 4 years. So, what does this mean?

We’re in a seller’s market. Though OC living may sound near impossible, the desirability of the property outweighs the challenges and costs to obtain it. Inventory has slowed considerably, down 6 percent from last year. Meanwhile, homes placed in escrow jumped 25 percent. This reduced rate of new listings to new escrows is the lowest in 4 years.

Given the average home price in Orange County is $672,700, you can imagine how quickly the turnaround is on a home under $1 million. According to ReportsOnHousing, 1,834 properties were listed at $1 million or more with an average market time (listing to escrow) of 134 days while 2,632 homes were listed under $1 million with an average market time of 39 days!

Thus, if you’re looking to buy or sell soon, you’ll need to prepare and plan accordingly. This means getting pre-approved and shopping below your max loan amount given that many homes are selling over asking price. It can be exhausting battling it out in a bidding war over a home you love and losing out because you could not afford to match another offer.