The housing market in Orange County, California, is finally starting to return to its pre-pandemic normal.
Homeowners can still expect their properties to sell in less than a month—historically very fast. But at 27 days, the average market time to sell a home in Orange County has increased 23 percent, from 22 days, in the past four weeks.
According to Steven Thomas, author of The Orange County Housing Report, demand to purchase a home “has been dropping, shedding 10 percent in the past four weeks.”
Local demand is now in line with historical averages.
The current demand to purchase a home, compared to the pre-pandemic housing market, is just 2 percent above the 2015-2019 five-year seasonal average. There have been 2,761 pending sales over the past 30 days; the five-year seasonal average for 2015 to 2019 is 2,699 homes.
Demand to purchase a home should be expected to decline as prices drop, following the law of demand from economics. The law of supply is also at work.
“The active listing inventory … now sits at 2,528 homes [in Orange County], its highest level since January. In the past four weeks, it has grown by 14 percent,” according to Thomas.
Home inventory is still low by historical standards, he added.
National Issue
Charlie Oppler, president of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), said on July 15 during a virtual conference, “The U.S. housing shortage is … the result of more than a decade of severe underbuilding and underinvestment.”Outside Orange County
The average number of days to sell a home in Los Angeles County rose to 39 days in the most recent reporting period from 36 days four weeks ago. San Diego homes are now selling at an average period of 27 days, compared to an average of 23 days four weeks ago,Within Southern California, only the Ventura County housing market is tighter than it was four weeks ago. In Ventura County, it now takes only 21 days to sell a home, down substantially from the 37-day average time four weeks ago.
