O.C. Sales Flat

I know we read a lot about interest rates and prices going up and how they are making affordability difficult for home buyers but I don’t think they are the reason sales are so sluggish right now.

I see buyers still looking for homes but they feel no pressure.   Interest rates aren’t going up too much too fast and prices have stabilized as well.  I have no buyers who were able to buy a few months ago but can’t now due to loan qualifications.  I do have some that are in a difficult price point but that is a different blog.

Median home prices are up almost 19% from last February.  That is good news for most buyers but sellers would prefer us to still be seeing gains after December’s numbers, which were higher than Feb’s.   Feb sales dropped 12% year over year.  There are still few homes on the market compared to a normal market thought inventory has risen somewhat.  As I always say, just because the numbers are up doesn’t mean they are normal or adequate.  They are simply higher than the ridiculously low numbers of recent times.

Interestingly enough, higher end homes are selling better.  $400k home sales are down over 39% while $6-700k homes are up over 24%.  Homes above $700k are up more than 34%.  Of course, the market was almost exclusively low end for quite a while.

Normal time on the market for OC is about 6 months.  Now, it’s just over 2 months.  There are still plenty of buyers out there.  They just want decent homes at decent prices and are pickier than ever.

The market has been very flat for most of the year and we’re all wondering what will happen as Spring heats up.  My feeling is buyers will ramp up decisively once the threat of higher interest rates and prices become concerning and not before that.