Tue 2 Jun 2009

Foreclosures in Orange County California

Posted by Vicki Lloyd under Bank-owned, Foreclosures, REO, Real Estate
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Cheapest REO $60,000

Cheapest REO $60,000

The foreclosures on the market today are selling quickly, and at the moment, our inventory is the lowest that I’ve seen in the last year with a total of only 405 bank owned properties on the MLS for all of Orange County.  

The low end of the REO menu is priced at $60,000 for a one bedroom condo in Laguna Woods (previously known as Leisure World), and the highest priced one is $3,299,000 for an 8,700 square foot custom home in the guard-gated Covenant Hills section of Ladera Ranch.   I like the photo best on the 3rd most expensive REO, so that’s the one I included here.   (They just accepted an offer on 5/26, so it is no longer available!)

San Clemente Custom $2.4 million
San Clemente Custom $2.4 million

There are currently 1,086 bank-owned properties in escrow at an average price of $330,871, or $216.51 per square foot. The average time on the market is 33 days, but ranges from 0 to 706.   

Since the foreclosure moratorium ended in early April, the notices of default have increased, which will probably lead to more bank-owned homes coming on the MLS in the next few months.  The buyers who have been waiting and think that they can buy a bank-owned home for 50% of market value, will be disappointed.  In the last 90 days, there have been 2,297 closed sales of REOs in Orange County ranging in price from$39,900 up to $2,450,000 .  The average sale price is  $320,507 and that is 97% of the list price. 

Click here to see what REOs are available in the South County cities

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Thanks for visiting!
Vicki Lloyd

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Fri 22 May 2009

Lake Forest California – April Sales Report

Posted by Vicki Lloyd under Lake Forest, Market Conditions, Pricing, Real Estate, South Orange County
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For the month of April 2009, the sales volume in Lake Forest was up again compared to the same period last year.  There were a total of 63 closed sales in the MLS, a 12.5% improvement to the 56 in April 2008.  The prices were substantially lower though. 

The 29 sales of single family homes ranged from the low of $305,000 to a high of $702,500 and averaged $432,160 at $235/square foot, a decline of more than 21%. 

Bank-owned $305,000 Sale
The low SFR closing for the month was $305,000 for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,250 square foot bank owned home.  It was only on the market one day, and sold for $1,000 over list price.  

Prior Sale July 2005 $624,900
The prior MLS sale of this house was in the summer of 2005, for a price of $624,900.  It was on the market 17 days that time, but sold for the full asking price.  From the title company records, it appears that the house was sold again in August of 2006, for $730,000!  The loans recorded at that time indicate there was a 10% down payment, and 2 loans that came to $657,000 in financing.  Since that sale occured off the MLS, I can’t determine how close to asking price, or how long it was on the market that time.

Condo sales in April ranged from $100,000 up to $324,900 with a median price of $180,000 and an average of $189,605 ($187/square foot).  The 34 sales were made up of 2 traditional sales, 4 post-foreclosure flips, and the other 28 were either short sales or bank-owned.

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Tue 5 May 2009

Orange County Real Estate Market Report 5-1-2009

Posted by Vicki Lloyd under Bank-owned, Foreclosures, Market Conditions, Orange County, Real Estate, Short Sales
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The market continues to be strong for the foreclosed homes.  So far this year, there have been 3,254 bank-owned homes sold.  They range in price from a low of $42,000 to a high of $2,450,000 but the average comes to $326,549.  Today, there are only 463 foreclosed homes on the market, and 1,318 in escrow.  The average time to sell these properties has been 43 days.  

The short sales are selling, although not nearly so quickly.  Since January 1, the MLS shows that 1,445 short sales have closed.  There are currently 2,385 in escrow, and 3,015 available as active listings.  The problem with trying to analyze the short sales is that there is no consistency.  Some agents keep properties in the active status, and continue to show them long after they have received offers, while others put them immediately into “backup” status, but really have no idea what the lender will take or when it might close.  This process typically takes so long that by the time the lender gives an answer, either the value has fallen below the buyer’s offer, or the buyer has found another property and withdraws his offer. 

There are 5,964 properties classified as “equity” sellers, but 43% of those, are priced at over a million dollars!  For more modest home buyers, there are currently only 1,211 homes priced under $500,000 and 2,229 priced between $500,000 and $1 Million.  (These numbers don’t add up because some of these are range-priced, so they get counted in 2 categories.) 

I’m now hearing lots of stories of multiple offers for REO properties, as well as on the lower priced non-distressed properties.  I really hope that the real estate decline is coming to an end and that the market will stabilize, but it’s still too early to tell.  The moratorium on foreclosures ended on April 1, 2009 and the number of homes that are starting the foreclosure process has increased.  Since it takes almost 4 months to foreclose, we won’t have a lot of data to report until early August.  

If you are a first time buyer, the combination of the $8,000 tax credit and low interest rates make it very tempting to buy now.  You just need to make sure that the home you buy is one that will meet your needs for several (5 to 7) years because there is no guarantee that once the market “recovers” it will begin to appreciate again!

Search ALL the homes for sale in the Southern California MLS  (there must be at least one that you like!)

Don’t miss the next exciting update to this blog – click on the envelope to be notified by email!  )

 Click here to receive updates by email

Thanks for visiting!

Vicki Lloyd

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Fri 10 Apr 2009

Foreclosed Homes in Orange County

Posted by Vicki Lloyd under Bank-owned, Foreclosures, Orange County, REO, Real Estate
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The foreclosed homes in Orange County seem to be selling like “hot cakes.”  So far this year, 2442 homes that were taken back in foreclosure have been sold and recycled back to buyers.  The inventory of Orange County foreclosed homes on the MLS has dropped from 865 a month ago, to 674 today.

There are rumors that this is the “calm before the storm” because the FannieMae and FredieMac mortatoriums expired on 3/31, so more homes are expected to be foreclosed in the next few months.  My data sources of information about homes in the foreclosure process runs about 2 weeks behind reality, so I won’t have much indication of the true impact of this for a little while still.

For the 2442 properties that have closed so far this year, the average sale price is $328,238 ($209/square foot.)  They sold in an average of 43 days on the market at 99% of the final list price.  Many of the lenders, and their REO specialist agents, have stimulated the sales of REOs by listing them significantly below recent comps.  This, generally, has created a lot of buyer interest, and many have sold for over list price after receiving multiple offers.

I just updated all the links to foreclosed homes that are listed in the MLS, so check your favorite areas to see if you can find a bargain!

Search ALL the homes for sale in the Southern California MLS  (there must be at least one that you like!)

Don’t miss the next exciting update to this blog – click on the envelope to be notified by email!  )

 Click here to receive updates by email

Thanks for visiting!

Vicki Lloyd

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Tue 7 Apr 2009

Lake Forest Market Report – March 2009

Posted by Vicki Lloyd under Lake Forest, Market Conditions, Real Estate
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The numbers are in, and the real estate market in Lake Forest, California is definitely more active this year than last year when only 28 properties were sold.  Sales more than doubled with 69 closed sales in Lake Forest for the month of March 2009.  The prices ranged from a low of $122,000 for a one-bedroom condo, up to $711,000 for a 3 bedroom lake front home. 

The average price (add up all the sold prices, and divide by the 69 properties that sold) was $339,168, or $231 per square foot.   This was down almost 20% from the average price of $412,000 and $276 per square foot in March 2008.  The house pictured below is the closest to the average, but really closed at $325,000 after being reduced from an original list of $379,000. 

Closest to Average Sale at $325,000

The median price of the closed sales was $370,000, at $323.14/square foot!  (To find the median, list all properties in order of sale price, and find the middle value, which was the #35 property.)  That property was a bank-owned home and was listed for $325,500 and sold in 7 days!  Note to bargain hunters – just because it is bank-owned, doesn’t mean that other people might not want to bid the price up!  
Lake Forest Median Priced Home for March 2009

Check back tomorrow when I will get into the details and comparisons of the single family home and condo markets.

Search all 11,500+ homes in Orange County (some aren’t even distressed!)

Thanks for visiting!

Vicki Lloyd

 

 

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