| Inventories of homes on the market are slowly increasing all across the nation. This is all part of an adjustment period needed by the market to balance for slightly higher interest rates and a market that has lost some steam. While experts at the National Association of Realtors feel that existing home sales will decrease by as much as 5.7 percent nationwide, they also reassure homeowners and buyers that this is all part of this important normalizing of the market.
Orange County, California, is one of the most talked about counties in the United States — mostly because of its role in nightly television and celebrity gossip, but also because the housing market in the area continues to explode. Most of Orange County's population resides in one of two shallow coastal valleys that are in the basin, the Santa Ana Valley and the Saddleback Valley. Experts report that "real estate investments in this area abound and builders can't seem to build new homes fast enough. New developments in the County are being built at a quick rate particularly in the North and South County and these new home communities have been an excellent value." The softening that the market has experienced can be attributed to media backlash, with many wondering if there had been no "housing bubble" media frenzy, if there would still be declines in home sales. An increase in inventory is also a factor in homes selling at a slower rate. More homes to choose from means homes will take longer to sell. This has shifted market favor to the buyers. Orange County has reason to believe that 2006 will be a booming year, however, as the densely populated county is still one of the fastest growing counties in the nation. This means more buyers to buy up the existing inventory. Currently on the market, of the homes available 3,477 are condos and townhouses ranging in price from $153,000 to $3,795,000 and 5,340 are single family homes with prices ranging from $330,000 and $31,500,000. David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, says, "The cooling from overheated sales conditions in recent months is helping to bring inventory levels up to the point where buyers have more choices than they’ve seen in the last five years. Annual price appreciation is still running at double-digit rates, but the cause of those sharp increases is going away. As the market readjusts, price appreciation should return to more normal rates of growth this year.” With these figures, we are sure to see Orange County in the news for a long time to come. For information on your area, please click here. |
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