January 2023 RSS Feed

Orange County Housing Report: Turning Up the Heat

With all the distractions of the holidays now in the rearview mirror, the housing market is about to heat up as demand soars and market times fall.

 The Winter Market

The Winter Market is characterized by slowly rising supply, surging demand, and a fall in market times.

Climbing into a car during the dead of winter can be brutal. The seats are cold. The steering wheel is cold. Most importantly, the air temperature feels as if it is below ZERO, even in sunny Southern California. Initially, after turning on the heat, frigid air blows through the vents. After driving down the street, the air quickly warms, ending the harsh reality of winter’s chill. Similarly, after hitting its slowest time of…

Orange County Housing Report: Sluggish Intro to 2023

Unlike the insane, incredible hot starts to 2021 and 2022, this year’s start is much different with very little demand, a muted inventory, and pre-pandemic market times.

2023 Start

With very little demand and a subdued inventory, real estate activity will be suppressed as the year gets underway.

Bears do not wake up from hibernation energetic and raring to go. Instead, they are groggy and dazed for two to three weeks and it takes a while for their metabolism to kick in again. That is how housing normally starts after the holidays have finally passed. It takes a few weeks in January for buyers and potential sellers to shake off the holiday fog after enjoying the festive season that is…

Orange County Housing Report: A 2023 Forecast

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  Now, what does that mean for Orange County real estate? 

First, let us look back at what happened in 2022 in terms of inventory, demand, luxury properties, and the Expected Market Time.

Active Inventory

After starting the year with a record low number of available homes to purchase, the inventory soared higher but is still far below pre-pandemic levels.

The year started off with an active inventory of 954 homes, the lowest level to start a year since tracking began in 2004. The average start prior to the pandemic was 4,500 homes, so there was nearly nothing available in January. Yet, with a rapidly rising mortgage rate environment, demand slowed substantially as the year…